Macau ranks 5th on World Tourism Barometer 2014

Macau ranked 5th in terms of tourism expenditure according to the United Nations World Tourism Barometer 2014 Edition published yesterday. The money spent by tourists in the Special Administrative Region increased 13.7 per cent from US$43.7 billion in 2012 to US$51.6 billion in 2013.
Although Macau registered the second largest increase in the top ten in terms of tourism receipts, only after Thailand – which amount went up 24.4 per cent from US$33.8 billion to US$42.1 billion – the SAR maintained the same position as last year. The United States tops this ranking with a total of US$139.6 billion spent. China ranks fourth (US$51.7 billion spent), right in front of Macau, and Hong Kong is 10th (US$38.9 billion).
In Asia and the Pacific Region, China and Macau achieve roughly the same market share of tourism receipts with a share of 14.4 per cent each, which puts them top of the list.
In terms of International Tourist Arrivals, Macau cannot make it into the top 10, ranking 19th with a total of 14,268 million international visitors in 2013, an increase of 5.1 per cent from 2012, when 13.577 million international tourists entered the SAR. Mainland tourists are considered national tourists and so they are not counted in the study.
France is the most visited place with a total of 83,013 million visitors in 2012. The French data for 2013 has not been revealed yet. As for China, it ranks fourth, despite registering a decrease of 3.5 per cent from 55.7 million visitors in 2012 to 55.7 million in 2013. Hong Kong ranked 12th with a total of 25,661 million international visitors, an increase of 8 per cent from 2012 to 2013.
J.S.F.