Macau expects a surge in tourism during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, with daily visitor arrivals forecast to reach around 120,000.
The holiday period comes as visitor growth continues to outpace gaming revenue. Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau data showed gross gaming revenue reached MOP169.053 billion (approximately $21.1 billion) during the first eight months of 2026, up 3.7 per cent year on year.
August GGR was MOP21.89 billion (approximately $2.74 billion), down 1.2 per cent compared with August 2025. Macau recorded around 28.96 million visitor arrivals between January and August, representing annual growth of 7.7 per cent. The city passed 30 million arrivals on 11 September, reaching the milestone 22 days earlier than last year.
Holiday period could bring 120,000 visitors to Macau each day
Hu Jingguang, president of the Macau Travel Industry Council, expects daily arrivals to reach around 120,000 during the holidays.
The three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday runs from 25 to 27 September, followed shortly by the National Day Golden Week from 1 October. Short-haul travel demand, mainland Chinese travel policies and events in Macau are expected to support traffic.
Hotel bookings are also building. Average bookings for Golden Week currently stand at around 60 per cent to 70 per cent, while some traditional hotels in the New Port area are approaching 80 per cent. Demand is expected to be strongest between 1 and 5 October.
The holiday period will provide another indication of how effectively higher visitor traffic is translating into hotel demand and gaming activity.
Same-day travel is reshaping Macau’s tourism recovery
Growth has been particularly strong among same-day visitors. Macau received approximately 12.89 million same-day arrivals during the first half of 2026, up 15.3 per cent year on year. Overnight arrivals increased just 0.2 per cent to around 8.05 million.
Hotels recorded average occupancy of 90.4 per cent during the period, an increase of 1.3 percentage points. Five-star properties reached 93.8 per cent occupancy. However, total hotel guests declined 1.1 per cent to approximately 7.13 million.
Non-gaming spending has moved in the opposite direction. Statistics and Census Service data showed visitor non-gaming expenditure increased 17.4 per cent to MOP44.47 billion (approximately $5.51 billion) during the first half.
The difference between overnight and same-day spending remains significant. Overnight visitors spent an average MOP4,024 (approximately $499) on non-gaming activities, compared with MOP935 (approximately $116) among same-day visitors.
Golden Week provides an important test for second-half performance
Macau has budgeted for MOP236 billion (approximately $29.5 billion) in gaming revenue during 2026. With GGR increasing more slowly than visitor arrivals through August, Golden Week will provide another important data point for the market.
The proximity of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays creates an extended period of strong travel demand, supported by fireworks and seasonal events.
For Macau’s casino and hospitality businesses, the composition of that traffic will matter alongside the headline arrival figure. Higher volumes of same-day visitors can support footfall, but overnight travellers generate considerably more non-gaming expenditure.
Hotel occupancy, length of stay, visitor spending and gaming revenue during the holiday period will therefore provide a clearer picture of how Macau’s tourism recovery is feeding through to its broader gaming and hospitality economy.
Macau’s rising visitor numbers are encouraging, but arrivals alone are becoming a weaker measure of tourism value. The more important test is if holiday traffic converts into overnight stays, stronger non-gaming spending and higher gaming revenue.
Explore more:
Share
1 views
