The first four days of the annual National Day Golden Week holiday have reportedly seen the total number of visitors to Macau decline by 2% year-on-year to around 469,000 with those arriving from mainland China falling by some 5.1% to approximately 363,500.

According to a report from GGRAsia, the figures came from the Macao Government Tourism Office and excluded migrant workers along with foreign and mainland students studying in the former Portuguese enclave under special visa arrangements.

The Macao Government Tourism Office reportedly also revealed that the numbers of tourists to the city on Wednesday, which coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, had decreased by 22% year-on-year to 92,500 while those visiting from mainland China on the day diminished by 30.3% to about 69,000.

Tourism officials in Macau last week reportedly predicted that overall visitor numbers for this year’s National Day Golden Week period, which began on October 1 and is set to run until Sunday, would increase by around 4.5% year-on-year. The holiday is normally considered the peak season for the city’s gaming and tourism industries as mainland Chinese tourists by the thousands take advantage of the week-long break to engage in leisure activities.

GGRAsia reported that last year saw visitor numbers to Macau during the National Day Golden Week swell by 19% year-on-year to 770,000 as overall hotel occupancy rates hit 92.3%.