The first six months of 2018 reportedly saw Macau record an 8% increase year-on-year in the number of tourists visiting its shores to just over 16.8 million while the tally for June alone rose by 9.4% to about 2.6 million.

Chinese tourists lead the way:

According to a Monday report from GGRAsia citing official figures from the city’s Statistics and Census Service, the number of tourists visiting the former Portuguese enclave from mainland China during the first six months of 2018 swelled by 13.3% year-on-year to in excess of 11.7 million.

The figures from the Statistics and Census Service also showed that the six-month tally for mainland Chinese tourists that had utilized the Individual Visit Scheme visa program in order to enter Macau had grown by some 15% year-on-year to around 810,300.

GGRAsia further detailed that the half-year report had shown that the majority of Macau tourists from mainland China had originated in the nearby provinces of Hunan, Guangdong and Fujian while approximately one million had stayed overnight, which represented a year-on-year swell of 11.1%.

Hong Kong and South Korea visitor numbers drop:

Further afield and the Statistics and Census Service reportedly explained that the number of tourists visiting Macau from Hong Kong and South Korea during the six-month period to the end of June had dropped by 3.7% and 2.2% year-on-year respectively although the tally for Taiwan had risen by 0.9%.

For June, the government agency proclaimed that the number of visitors from South Korea had fallen by 13.4% year-on-year while Taiwan and Hong Kong had posted gains of 7.8% and 2% respectively.

Overnight stays increase:

The figures from the Statistics and Census Service showed that Macau recorded an 8.3% year-on-year improvement to around 8.7 million in terms of overnight stays during the six months to June 30 while day-tripper numbers grew by 7.8% to slightly over 8 million.

Finally, the source reported that June saw the number of overnight stays in Macau rise by 7.2% year-on-year to over 1.4 million with the average length of stay remaining static at 1.3 days while same-day visitation had grown by 12.4% to reach almost 1.2 million.