Macau saw an increase in tourist arrivals of 9.8% for all of 2018, with 35.8 million arrivals recorded across the 12-month period. Things are already getting off to a good start in 2019 and, if the current pace is maintained, the overall figures for this year will be even greater. This past January, arrives jumped 25% year-on-year.

3.4 million tourist arrivals were logged in January. 1.78 million single-day visitors headed to the city – 41.8% more than in January 2018 – with the average visit lasting just under five hours. That was the same amount of time as was seen a year earlier. This segment made up the majority of the visitation, accounting for 52.1% of all of Macau’s visitors. In January of last year, the segment only accounted for 45.9%.

The overall average of a visitor’s stay was 1.2 days. Compared to the same period last year, this was a decline of one-tenth of a day. The number of visiting spending the night in the city increased 10.7%, reaching 1.64 million and the average length of stay was 2.2 days, one-tenth of a day longer than a year prior.

As is typically the case, Chinese visitation accounted for the largest segment and increased by 29.9% year-on-year. Almost 2.51 million Chinese mainlanders visited Macau in January, with the majority -1.14 million – originating in the Guangdong province. Next was the Hunan province, with around 98,000, followed by the Fujian province, with 79,000. Chinese tourists arriving as individuals – and not part of a tour group – increased 45.2% to just over 1.3 million.