High Demand, Lower Prices: Macau Hotels Prepare for Labor Day Rush

Macau is getting ready for the highly anticipated five-day Labor Day weekend on the Chinese mainland.

A recent report by UBS sheds insight on patterns in hotel prices and booking activity. Bookings are increased despite prices being 20% less than for the Chinese New Year this year, suggesting a high demand for rooms.

A week before Labor Day, UBS analysts shared their observations from monitoring thirty-one hotels in an investment brief.

Some locations have already sold out, and the number of reservations is comparable to what was observed during this year’s hectic Chinese New Year festivities.

Meanwhile, over the Labor Day holiday period, the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) expects an average of 130,000 inbound passengers each day, exceeding previous holiday peaks like Cheng Ming and Easter. This number, however, represents a little decline from the 170,000 daily visitors over Chinese New Year 2024 and the approximately 158,000 daily visits during the 2019 Labor Day holiday.

A second investment letter from HSBC echoes UBS’s observations, pointing out that demand is high and that many hotels are already fully reserved for the period of May 1 through May 5. Bookings are rising, especially in Cotai’s integrated resorts like Londoner Court and Four Seasons, Galaxy Hotel and Andaz, MGM Cotai and MGM Macau, Epic Tower and Studio City Hotel, and Grand Lisboa, per HSBC’s analysis, which is based on data from the biggest online travel agency Trip.com.

Macau’s booming hotel industry is confirmed by official data from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

As of the end of February of this year, the city had 141 hotels. The number of visitor accommodations that are now available has significantly increased as a result of the installation of 20 hotels and about 7,000 rooms since 2019.

A promising development for Macau’s tourism sector is that the HSBC note raises the prospect of Hengqin and Macau establishing a multi-entry visa arrangement.

The government is currently debating this highly anticipated bill, which is expected to benefit tour companies and maybe indicate a positive direction for the area’s tourism industry going forward.

Stakeholders in Macau’s hotel industry are ready for a surge of visitors as the Labor Day vacation draws near, underscoring the attraction and adaptability of the city’s tourism offerings despite shifting market conditions.

Original Story by: Asian Gaming Brief