Guangdong, Shanghai listed as Macau’s top 2 source for mainland China tourists

Shanghai will come in second place to Guangdong province among Macau’s top ten source markets for mainland Chinese tourists in 2023, according to GGRAsia’s analysis of data from the Statistics and Census Service of Macau.

Of Macau’s overall visitor count of little over 28.21 million in 2023, mainland China accounted for 67.5%, or over 19.05 million visits. A little over 27.92 million tourists visited mainland China before to the outbreak, making about 70.9 percent of Macau’s total of around 39.41 million visitors.

In 2023, Guangdong, the province on the mainland closest to Macau, continued to be the leading source market with little under 10.28 million visitors, or 53.9% of mainland China’s total of over 19.05 million visitors.

Other markets trailed far behind, with Hong Kong ranking as Macau’s second-largest source of tourist revenue in both 2019 and 2023.

According to a market research conducted in Las Vegas, Nevada, customers’ inclination to visit a city and the frequency of such visits are often correlated with closeness to the market. This proximity seems to be a major factor in Guangdong’s consistent high ranking among mainland visitors to Macau, with Hong Kong acting as the primary source market.

Experts in investment matters suggest that other factors might influence the order of Chinese source markets for Macau. These factors include the regulations on mainland departure visas for various provinces, the availability of the nation’s high-speed rail system, and the pace at which domestic air services have recovered after the pandemic.

By 2023, Shanghai jumped up from ninth place in Macau’s tourism trade ranking for tourists from the mainland, to a better position. However, Shanghai’s market share in Macau in 2023 was only 8.6% higher than in 2019, with 784,084 visitors compared to 721,783.

Jiangsu rose from seventh place in 2019 to third place in 2023 when it came to sending mainland visitors to Macau. But in reality, just 698,606 tourists were flown to Macau in 2023—a 12.1 percent drop from 782,876 in 2019.

Zhejiang dropped from sixth in 2019 to fourth in 2023 with 672,447 visits, a 17.3% decrease from 788,762 visits in 2019.

With 532,033 tourists, Fujian came in fifth place in 2023—a 42.8 percent drop from third place in 2019 with 930,098 visitors.

With just over 1.12 million visitors in 2019, Hunan ranked second in 2019. However, with 515,801 visitors in 2023—a 54.1 percent decline—it dropped to sixth position.

Hubei dropped 44.7 percent from fourth position in 2019 with 923,470 visitors to seventh place in 2023 with 510,676 tourists.

With 496,725 visitors, Guangxi came in ninth in 2023—a 42.1 percent decline from fifth place (857,665) in 2019.

With 415,734 travelers in 2023, Sichuan ranked ninth among mainland tourist sources for Macau; this is a 24.7 percent decline from its performance in 2019, when it brought in 551,978 visitors, maintaining its ninth-place ranking.

After ranking twelfth in 2019 with 390,491 visitors, Beijing, which was not in the top 10 in 2019, climbed to tenth position in 2023 with 391,669 tourists—a negligible increase.

Original story by: GGRAsia