Macau welcomed 28 million visitors in 2023, reaches new post-pandemic record

As to the first data provided by the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Macau’s tourism industry concluded 2023 with great success, breaking the previous record of 175,030 daily visits on New Year’s Eve, after the pandemic.

Over 28.23 million tourists visited the city in 2023, with over 77,000 visitors each day on average. In comparison to 2019, the last fiscal year before the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, this figure represents a 70% rise.

The Macau Tourism Office (MGTO) has highlighted the increasing trend in visitor numbers leading up to the total reopening of borders in 2023. This underscores Macau’s attractiveness as a global travel and leisure destination. The tourist office plans to actively pursue international visitor markets in 2024 in addition to keeping up its improvement of tourism-related products and services.

Early data indicates a notable recovery in foreign tourist arrivals as well; the daily monthly average increased from 10.1 percent in January 2019 to 94.4 percent in December 2023 compared to 2019. Over the course of five days, from December 26 to December 30, the average number of foreign visitors each day exceeded 10,000.

Preliminary figures from Macau’s Public Security Police indicate that over the New Year’s holiday from December 30 to January 1, the city had almost 399,180 visitors, with an average of about 133,060 per day. In the tender process for new 10-year gaming concessions, bidders were asked to create plans and pledge investments, including efforts to draw in more foreign customers. This indicates that the Macau government wants casino concessionaires to target markets other than China.

Original story by: GGRAsia