Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, August 10, 2003
Group Travels to Macao Down 45.9 Pct in First Half Year
The number of tourists came in group travels to Macao in the first half of 2003 declined by 45.9 percent over the corresponding period of 2002 to 581,290, according to the latest figures released by the Statistics and Census Service.
The number of tourists came in group travels to Macao in the first half of 2003 declined by 45.9 percent over the corresponding period of 2002 to 581,290, according to the latest figures released by the Statistics and Census Service.
The figures showed that the group travel business sapped by theaftermath of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has not stepped out the shadow with only 25,307 group travelers recorded in June, representing a year-on-year fall of 81.6 percent.
The decline was mainly attributed to the decrease of tourists from Hong Kong and Taiwan, which are two important source markets for Macao's tourism. The number of group travelers from Taiwan only registered 648 in June, down by 98.2 percent compared to thatof the previous year.
However, the hotel room occupation rate has shown a gradual comeback from the disease-inflicted slump since April with the declining margin starting to shrink in June. The averaged occupation rate went up to 49.8 percent, compared to merely 10 percent in May, and that of five-star hotels even shot up to 56.9 percent.
With the launch of a series of big events including the Grand Prix racing contest, the World Wushu Championships and the China-Portugese Speaking Countries Economic and Trade Co-operation Forum,all slated for the second half year, Macao can expect major tourist indexes to recover to last year's levels.