Labor Day period expecting 3-5 pct increase in visitors

Monday 30th of April 2018

The upcoming Labor Day holiday period may see a 3-5 percent uptick in visitors, said Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) director Maria Helena De Senna Fernandes.

The Labor Day holiday period generally falls between April 29 to May 1, through this year has included an extra weekend day on Sunday.

According to Macau News, last year’s three-day holiday period saw 373,387 visitors, registering a 6 percent rise year-on-year.

“The number of Chinese tourists has seen a stable increase and May 1 is traditionally a time for travel... I think this year the rise will be more stable,” said Fernandes on Friday.

The forecast was supported by findings from a recent channel check conducted by Morgan Stanley, released on Monday.

According to the brokerage, both Wynn and Galaxy are recording higher occupancy compared to Sands, with Wynn Peninsula seeing 100 percent occupancy for their standard rooms 13 days ahead of the period. Galaxy properties are also seeing most of their days full for the period from April 27 to May 5.

The brokerage noted however that MGM Cotai is still ramping up, with only one third of the days fully booked during the travel period.

Last Saturday, Macau posted a record number of daily entries with 570,000 crossing into the city on the day.

President of the Macao Travel Industry Council told Macau News that the the surge of tourists was due to the fact that some visitors wanted to come to the city prior to the Labor Day holiday for fear of hike in room prices during the holidays.