South Korean package tour visitors to Macau surged 43.5 percent year-on-year to 33,000 in 1Q25, according to data released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).
The total number of inbound package tour visitors reached 550,000 in the first quarter, representing a 9.1 percent increase compared to the same period last year. While mainland China remained the dominant source market with 477,000 visitors, up 6.3 percent, international tour visitors showed stronger growth, rising by 19.8 percent to 60,000.
March 2025 data revealed continued momentum, with South Korean tour visitors increasing by 41.9 percent year-on-year to 11,000. This helped drive the overall international tour visitor count up by 21.5 percent to 24,000 for the month. Total inbound package tour visitors in March stood at 244,000, reflecting a 5.6 percent growth compared to March 2024.
Hotel statistics further confirmed the strong South Korean presence, with guests from South Korea rising by 16.1 percent to 92,000 in the first quarter. This made South Koreans the largest international guest segment in Macau’s hotels, significantly outpacing other international markets such as Japan, 26,000, up 9.8 percent, and Malaysia, 22,000, up 14.7 percent.
The surge in South Korean visitors comes amid an overall positive period for Macau’s tourism sector, with hotel occupancy rates climbing 5.2 percentage points to 90.1 percent in the first quarter. Five-star establishments performed particularly well with a 93.2 percent occupancy rate, up 6.1 percentage points year-on-year.
Despite the increase in tourism from South Korea and other markets, total hotel guests decreased by 5.4 percent to 3,574,000 in 1Q25, primarily due to a 3.4 percent decline in mainland Chinese guests, 2,721,000. However, the trend for international guests remained positive with an 8.1 percent increase to 292,000.
For March alone, hotel occupancy rates reached 88.8 percent, up 5.1 percentage points year-on-year, though total guest numbers decreased slightly by 2.7 percent to 1,203,000. The average length of stay remained stable at 1.6 nights.
