Increased Visitors at Mid-Autumn Festival

The three-day long weekend holiday for Mid-Autumn Festival starting on Friday, attracted more visitor arrivals to the city, with hotel rooms fully booked and an increase in retail sales, according to a report published in local Chinese-language newspaper Macao Daily last Friday.
On Friday, more than 416,000 people had entered or departed the MSAR, the Public Security Police Force (PSP) revealed. Of these, 72 per cent – or about 300,000 people – entered or departed through the Border Gate and 146,000 of these were entering the city, notes a report by TDM Chinese Radio.
The three-day holiday mostly attracted tourists from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, local media reported.
The opening of the two new resorts on Cotai contributed to fully-booked hotel rooms over the holiday period.
Tourists’ reasons for coming to the city included it being a good place to relax on holiday due to a relatively slow pace of lifestyle, and its strong cultural atmosphere, noted local reports. However, some tourists complained that there were less entertainment facilities for young travellers in the city and that food and accommodation was expensive – with an average price of MOP600 (US$75) for a hotel room per day. Travellers indicated that they hoped the city could offer more affordable hotels or bed and breakfast options for them to choose from, notes Macao Daily.
Nevertheless, hotel reservations were full at the new resort hotels. The lowest price for a hotel room was around MOP2,200, or about MOP2,700 for a hotel room with breakfast and an entertainment admission ticket included, according to the publication.
Retail sales up
In the wake of the new integrated resort openings, retailers at both new casino resorts recorded their highest number of visitors on Friday, according to Macao Daily.
In general, retail shops in Taipa had a 10 per cent increase in sales on Friday, compared to during the summer holidays, indicating a 20 per cent increase in sales compared to non-holiday days, the publication notes.
The majority of visitors were families from Mainland China, however retail sales recorded were unchanged when compared to the same period last year, mainly due to a slowdown in the Chinese economy leading to weaker visitor spending.
In addition, the consumption fair entitled ‘Community Consumption Unlimited Fun 2016’ in the Islands district also helped stimulate visitor consumption during the holiday period, the publication said. The program is organized by Macau Economic Services (DSE) and the Industry and Commerce Federation of Islands of Macao, and will run until October 16.