Macau breaks visitor arrivals record in 2019

MACAU - Macau’s visitor arrivals for 2019 so nearly hit the jackpot of 40 million.

The 10% increase over 2018 took traveller numbers growing from 35.8 million to 39.4 million, only just off that magic 40 million ‘carrying capacity’ mark, which averages out to an impressive 110,000 tourists per day.

Mainland visitors made up the lion’s share with around 28 million arrivals, followed by Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, India and Singapore in Asia Pacific.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, also seen as a tourist attraction in its own right, recorded the second largest entry-exit numbers at 13.3 million.

Visitors flying into Macau set a new record in 2019 too, up 16% year-on-year to count 9.6 million (14 times the city’s total population). The airport also handled 18% more flights than in 2018, with around 77,000 movements by 34 airlines, including 13 new destinations.

Fun fact: According to China’s giant travel service provider Ctrip, many of the mainland Chinese visitors to Macau are Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996). In 2019 travellers born after 1980 made up 31% of mainland arrivals. Those born in the 70s counted 19%, while those born after 1995 are apparently keen frequent repeat visitors to Macau.

The figures indicate Macau’s efforts to diversify into a family-friendly destination have seen real traction, with Ctrip’s statistics backing this up with the fact that families booking Macau trips and services made up 33% of users.