Macau’s hospitality sector hosts younger hotel guests post-COVID

The chairman of the Macau Hoteliers & Innkeepers Association, Lou Chi Leong, claims that since the city’s reopening in January of the previous year, the hospitality sector has seen significant changes.

There’s been a noticeable change in favor of younger hotel patrons, with families staying longer and lone travelers returning in large numbers. Group bookings are still less than they were before the outbreak, however.

The number of visitors to Macau exceeded 28 million last year, but it was still much less than the pre-pandemic norm of almost 40 million, despite a sharp rebound. The labor-intensive nature of the hospitality sector was highlighted by Lou Chi Leong, who also said that a lack of workers resulted in the closure of thousands of hotel rooms. Nonetheless, increased hiring initiatives and the use of non-resident workers have better equipped the company to handle the growing demand from tourists.

Considering that Macau has about 46,000 hotel rooms available, Lou Chi Leong believes the industry’s ability to accommodate tourists has significantly grown from pre-pandemic levels. Nonetheless, he did note a minimum 10% rise in cost expenditures, which he attributed to rising daily required prices and higher promotional expenses. Due to the competitive job market and high employee turnover over the last year, pay increases of two to three percent have also been implemented.

Based on government data, the average cost of a hotel room has risen by 78.1% annually to MOP1,321 ($165). Between January and November of last year, the average occupancy rate was 81%, and as of November 30, there were 46,300 hotel rooms, a 26% increase.

Original story by: Asia Gaming Brief