Macau’s visitor arrivals in October saw a 10.8 percent yearly increase to 3.47 million, according to official data.
The period was marked by the Golden Week holiday, which typically causes a surge in tourist numbers to the city. Overnight visitors totaled 1.36 million (up by 1.7 percent), while same-day visitor numbers increased by 17.6 percent to 2.1 million.
Of the total, visitor numbers from mainland China amounted to 2.54 million, a yearly increase of 12 percent. Those traveling under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) rose by 22.6 percent, to 1.32 million.
Of the mainland Chinese arrivals, some 214,368 made use of the ‘one trip per week’ visa measure, while some 97,365 used the ‘multiple-entry’ measure and 111,667 came under the ‘tourist group multi-entry measure’.
Visitation from Hong Kong during the month was down by 1 percent, to 584,767, while that from Taiwan increased by 34.2 percent yearly, to 92,165.
Looking at international visitation, there was a strong 22.9 percent yearly uptick, totaling 260,944 in October.
South Korea was the largest contributor, with 52,057 visitors – up by 10.6 percent yearly. Visitation from the Philippines totaled 44,863 – up by 15.3 percent, while visitation from Thailand increased by 118.5 percent, to 26,299.
Looking at long-haul markets, visitation from the United States rose by 18.8 percent yearly, to 15,467.
During the first 10 months of this year, there was a 14.1 percent yearly increase in visitor arrivals, amounting to 33.14 million.
