Macau tourist figures continue to slide

New figures from Macau suggest non-gaming spend fell for the seventh consecutive quarter during the second quarter of 2016.

With gambling revenues having fallen each month for more than two years, the data from the city’s Statistics and Census Service also showed that the number of people visiting Macau is down year-on-year.

Tourist non-gaming spending was down more than 4% year-on-year to MOP11.70 billion (€1.29 billion/$1.46 billion) during the three months to June 30, with per-capita spending of MOP1,601 falling by a similar amount compared to Q2 2015.

Shopping was the main focus of non-gaming spending (43%), followed by accommodation (27%) and food and beverages (21%).

Macau saw a total of 7.3 million tourist visits during Q2, a year-on-year decline of 0.5% compared to the same period in 2015.

Under the Chinese region’s proposed Five-Year Development Plan, the authorities want non-gaming revenue at the city’s casino resorts to rise to at least 9% of all revenue by 2020. It is though the figure currently stands at less than 7%.

Related article: Macau suffers 25th straight month of gaming decline