Visitor arrivals to Macao top 11 mln in H1

MACAO, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Visitor arrivals to Macao exceeded 11.645 million in the first half of this year, the Macao Government Tourism Office said on Saturday.

The daily average of visitors topped 64,000, a rebound to 59.6 percent of the figure in 2019, according to provisional figures from the office.

International visitor arrivals neared 475,000 in the first six months, equivalent to 31.2 percent of the corresponding figure in 2019. Hotel occupancy rate averaged 80.1 percent between January and June, merely 10.7 percentage points lower than the rate of 90.8 percent in 2019.

This year, the office has rolled out online and offline promotional measures, in tandem with public-private partnerships and monthly events, offering discounted transportation and bringing about a steady increase in visitor arrivals to Macao.

Earlier this month, the 11th Macao International Travel (Industry) Expo delivered a platform for cooperation in "tourism +" and once again gathered tourism industry delegates from worldwide to connect and navigate business opportunities.

The number of exhibitors and buyers hit the record high since the inception of the expo.