Total spending by visitors to Macau, gaming excluded, increased 8.8% year-on-year and 15.9% sequentially in 3Q17 to MOP$15.93 billion according to information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).
The year-on-year increase included a 9.0% rise in spending by overnight visitors to MOP$12.99 billion and 8.2% by same day visitors to MOP$2.94 billion, representing a gradual shift towards a higher quality of visitation.
In the three months to 30 September 2017, per capita spending of visitors was MOP$1,926, up 6.7% year-on-year and 7.8% quarter-on-quarter. Per capita spending of visitors from Mainland China increased by 4.6% year-on-year to MOP$2,197, with spending of those from Guangdong Province (MOP$1,877) and Fujian Province (MOP$1,646) rising by 12.2% and 16.7% respectively.
Per capita spending of Mainland visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) grew by 11.8%, at MOP$2,586. Per capita spending of visitors from Singapore (MOP$2,104), Japan (MOP$1,932) and Malaysia (MOP$1,818) increased by 10.1%, 10.4% and 4.8% respectively year-on-year while per-capita spending of those from Australia (MOP$1,646), the United States (MOP$1,282) and the United Kingdom (MOP$1,275) also grew.
Per-capita spending of overnight visitors rose by 1.9% year-on-year to MOP$2,862, however spending of those from Mainland China (MOP$3,153) fell by 3.6% year-on-year. That of IVS visitors (MOP$3,732) rose by 8.2%.
The specific breakdown of spending included shopping (46.4%), accommodation (26.7%) and food and beverage (19.3%). Per capita shopping spending of visitors increased by 14.2% year-on-year to MOP$894, of which spending on local food products (MOP$264) rose by 16.8% and that on cosmetics and perfume (MOP$232) surged by 72.7%. Analyzed by main purpose of visit, per-capita spending of visitors coming to Macau for MICE events (MOP$3,520) and shopping (MOP$2,607) grew by 13.9% and 4.1% respectively year-on-year. Spending of those coming to visit relatives or friends (MOP$2,143) increased to 62.4%.
The DSEC said that, according to visitor comments, 85.0% of visitors in 3Q17 were satisfied with the services of hotels, a decrease of 1.1 percentage points quarter-on-quarter, while the share of those who complimented Macau on its environmental hygiene (76.1%) and the services of retail shops (75.5%) dropped by 3.8 percentage points and 0.1 percentage point respectively.
The proportion of visitors who were satisfied with the services of travel agencies (73.3%) registered a 9.6% sequential increase. Just 63.8% were satisfied with the services of public transport, down by 3.8% quarter-on-quarter, with 56.1% of people saying there were adequate tourist attractions in Macau.
