Macau registered a new single-day visitor record during the Lunar New Year holiday period, as authorities reported 227,943 inbound arrivals on Thursday, February 19. The tally marked the highest daily figure ever recorded for the city and came during one of the busiest stretches of the annual festive season.

Immigration data showed that border checkpoints processed 750,114 cross-border movements that day. Of those, 388,456 were inbound trips, including the 227,943 visitor arrivals, while 361,658 outbound crossings were recorded, including 220,785 departing visitors. Officials had previously identified February 19 as one of the likely peak days of the holiday period.

Holiday Influx Drives Border Traffic

Travel demand rose sharply during the Lunar New Year Golden Week, which began on February 15 on the Chinese mainland and runs through February 23. Mainland China remains Macau’s primary feeder market. Authorities stated that inbound visitor numbers have continued to break records during the holiday, and they expect elevated volumes to persist in the following days.

The Border Gate checkpoint handled the largest share of arrivals, recording 163,732 entries on Thursday. Hengqin Port processed 66,939 arrivals, Qingmao Port recorded 53,638, and the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge accounted for 66,928 inbound visitors. Over a six-day span beginning February 14, nearly 927,000 visitors entered Macau, averaging approximately 154,491 per day.

In the first five days of the Golden Week alone, Macau welcomed 779,566 visitors, translating to an average of about 156,000 daily arrivals. Separate tourism data indicated that between February 15 and 18, 407,661 visitors originated from mainland China, while 96,401 came from Hong Kong.

As reported by Asia Gaming Brief, authorities also projected that cross-border trips between February 15 and February 23 would total between 6 million and 6.21 million movements, averaging more than 670,000 per day. Crowd control measures were implemented in key tourist districts on the record-setting day, and police increased deployments at checkpoints and urban areas to manage the heavy flow of travelers. Festive programming, including a parade along with drone and fireworks displays, coincided with the peak and likely contributed to higher visitor numbers.

The Macao Government Tourism Office earlier forecast total arrivals of between 1.4 million and 1.5 million over the nine-day holiday, with expected daily averages ranging from 158,000 to 175,000.

Casino Floors See Steady Activity

While visitor arrivals surged, on-site observations at major gaming properties suggested moderate levels of patron traffic across many casino floors on the sixth day of the mainland holiday.

At Grand Lisboa on the Macau peninsula shortly after 11am, most live-dealer baccarat tables were staffed. Minimum bets ranged from HKD1,000 to HKD2,000 on the ground floor, with lower-denomination tables attracting the most play. The main gaming floor featured tables from HKD500 to HKD2,000, and player traffic remained moderate. High-limit areas on the mezzanine level showed lighter occupancy, particularly at tables with HKD2,000 to HKD5,000 minimums.

Wynn Macau’s main floor offered baccarat starting at HKD500, rising to HKD3,000. Activity levels were modest, with greater use at HKD500 and HKD1,000 tables. The Diamond Club high-limit area had tables priced up to HKD10,000, though most players were at lower minimums. Encore Casino’s higher-limit baccarat tables also saw more play at the lower end of the HKD2,000 to HKD10,000 range.

MGM Macau’s main floor included a linked jackpot for stud poker and three-card poker, which stood at HKD8.67 million at the time of observation. Baccarat tables with HKD1,000 minimums attracted the most patrons, while high-limit sections recorded lighter traffic.

On Cotai, Galaxy Macau’s main floor offered baccarat from HKD500 to HKD5,000, with HKD2,000 tables drawing the most activity. The Venetian Macao had several busy zones, particularly near live multi-game and slot areas where HKD800 and HKD1,000 baccarat tables were frequently filled. High-limit zones across properties generally saw fewer players relative to main-floor areas.

By late afternoon at Wynn Palace, many HKD1,000 and HKD2,000 baccarat tables were busy. At MGM Cotai, main-floor baccarat tables between HKD1,000 and HKD2,000 proved most popular, while high-limit rooms remained less crowded.

Officials indicated that strong inbound momentum may continue through the remaining days of the holiday period, supporting both tourism and gaming activity across the city.