Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total spending of visitors (excluding gaming expenses) surged by 127.1% year-on-year to MOP14.98 billion in the first quarter of 2023, driven by an uplift of 163.7% in the number of visitor arrivals. Total spending of overnight visitors (MOP12.34 billion) and same-day visitors (MOP2.64 billion) leapt by 131.5% and 108.7% year-on-year.

Per-capita spending of visitors was MOP3,027 in the first quarter, down by 13.9% year-on-year. Per-capita spending of overnight visitors (MOP4,677) fell by 40.3%, whereas same-day visitors (MOP1,141) rose by 8.1%. Analysed by source of visitors, those from mainland China spent MOP3,899 on average, up by 8.9% year-on-year; meanwhile, per-capita spending of those travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (MOP3,939) dropped by 45.1%. Visitors from Hong Kong and Taiwan spent an average of MOP1,252 and MOP1,844 respectively.

As regards type of expense, visitors spent over 50% of their spending on shopping (57.6%) in the first quarter, followed by accommodation (20.1%) and food & beverage (17.4%). Per-capita shopping spending of visitors dropped by 29.2% year-on-year to MOP1,744, which was mainly spent on jewellery & watches (MOP405), cosmetics & perfume (MOP393) and food products (MOP340). Analysed by main purpose of visit, per-capita spending of visitors coming to Macao for vacation (MOP3,851) fell by 50.6% year-on-year, whereas spending of those coming for shopping (MOP2,590) and visiting relatives or friends (MOP2,059) increased by 20.0% and 3.1% respectively.

With respect to visitors’ comments in the first quarter, the proportions of visitors who complimented on hotel establishments (89.6%), gaming establishments (86.6%) and public transport (84.4%) decreased by 5.3, 7.8 and 5.3 percentage points quarter-to-quarter respectively. Besides, 80.7% of the visitors considered that there were adequate tourist attractions in Macao, an increase of 1.8 percentage points quarter-to-quarter.