2013-02-20 — /travelprnews.com/ — According to preliminary statistics, Macau registered 936,974 visitor arrivals (including foreign workers and students) during February 9 and 15 (Golden Week Holidays in Mainland), marking a growth of 15.4% compared with last year’s Spring Festival golden week. Among them, close to 630,000 visitors came from Mainland China, marking an increase of 25.5%.
During the golden week, the average occupancy rate of 3 to 5 Star hotels reached 89%, a year-on-year increase of 1.2%. The total number of rooms supplied by all hotels and guest houses in Macau surged up to 28,643 rooms, a year-on-year growth of 24% equivalent to 5,562 rooms.
The 3-Star and 4-Star hotels achieved an average occupancy rate of 89% and 87.1% respectively, an increase of 2.9% and 0.7%, whereas 5-star hotels had an average occupancy rate of 90.9%, a slight decrease of 0.02%. Compared with the Spring Festival golden week last year, the number of 5-Star hotel rooms has increased by 4,522.
According to the data provided by hotel industry, the average room rate of local 3 to 5 Star hotels reduced by 1.1%. The average room rate of guest houses during the golden week was 642 patacas, a year-on-year increase of 17.1%, while the average room rates of 2-Star and 3-Star hotels were 1,080.4 and 1,998 patacas respectively, a rise of 13.5% and 4%. On the other hand, the average room rates of 4-Star and 5-Star hotels were 1,816.6 and 2,281.6 patacas respectively, a decrease of 3.7% and 3.3%. The decrease in the average room rate of 5-Star hotels was attributed mainly to the reduced room rates of 2 resort hotels compared with the same period last year. It was also due to the reason that another 2 new grand hotels are inaugurated while one of them operates close to 3,900 rooms (constituting 20% of total 5-Star hotel rooms) and has an average room rate of 1,680 to 1,980 patacas. Due to the influence of same factors, the average room rate of 4-Star hotels dropped slightly as well.
In response to the situation arisen in the Spring Festival golden week, Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) will discuss with related departments, industry partners and associations about the improvement of information release in terms of hotels, restaurants and visitors’ trip planning before and during the golden week.
On the other hand, MGTO first organized the “Parade for the Celebration of the Year of the Snake” this year, hoping to extend the length of visitors’ stay in Macau and divert visitors towards different districts. MGTO will reflect upon the feasibility of holding the event again in future and seek to refine the event arrangement and program.
MGTO and Tourism Administration of Guangdong Province jointly operated the “Tourism Notification System for Spring Festival Golden Week” during February 9 and 15 (Golden Week Holidays in Mainland) and collaborated with relevant departments and hospitality entities to well facilitate the visitor reception during the Spring Festival golden week.
MGTO conducted 53 inspections at border ports and main tourist spots. During February 9 and 15, MGTO sealed 4 premises allegedly used for provision of illegal accommodation.
The information counters and tourism hotline service of MGTO operated as usual during the holidays. MGTO’s tourism hotline 2833 3000 maintained its 24-hour operator service to answer visitors’ enquiries.
During Chinese New Year, MGTO received 17 complaints/assistance requests from visitors in total regarding accommodation, consumer and transportation service. MGTO has transferred the cases to the relevant entities for follow up.