Getting cheaper

Macau’s Tourist Price Index (TPI) for the first quarter of this year decreased by 6.67 per cent year-on-year to 136.44, mainly due to the decrease of hotel accommodation costs, with a drop of 23.8 per cent year-on-year, according to the latest data released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) yesterday.
TPI reflects the price changes of tourists purchasing goods and services in Macau.
Other contributing factors to the falling TPI were entertainment & cultural activities, and drop in prices of women’s clothing, with 2.35 per cent and 1.98 per cent decrease, respectively.
However, the price index of food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco rose 3.77 per cent, while transport and communication increased 2.31 per cent.
Quarter-on-quarter fall
Compared to the fourth quarter of last year, TPI for the first quarter fell by 3.43 per cent. With the rates of hotel rooms down, and discounted sales of handbags and winter clothing and footwear, the price index for accommodation and clothing and footwear dropped 11.81 per and 5.7 per cent, respectively.
DECS further indicated that during the Lunar New Year airfares to and from Southeast Asia rose, which increased the price index of transport and communication by 5.89 per cent compared to the last quarter of 2015.
Fourth quarter average drop
The average TPI for the last four quarters ended the first quarter of 2016 fell by 2.99 per cent from the previous period, including the price index of accommodation and clothing and footwear, falling 12.7 per cent and 3.5 per cent, respectively. Nevertheless, the price index of food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, dining and entertainment & cultural activities increased 4.49 per cent, 2.46 per cent and 2.3 per cent.
The goods and services’ categories based on the pattern of tourists’ consumption in Macau include food, alcoholic beverages and tobacco, clothing and footwear, accommodation, restaurant services, transport and communication, pharmaceuticals and personal care items, entertainment & cultural activities, and miscellaneous items.