Visitors to Macao spend up by 20 pct in Q2

MACAO -- The total spending of visitors to China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) in the second quarter (excluding gaming expenses) grew by 20 percent year-on-year and edged up by 0.5 percent quarter-to-quarter, the SAR's statistic department said on Wednesday.

The latest data issued from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the total spending of visitors in the second quarter reached 16.50 billion patacas (about $2.04 billion). Total spending of overnight visitors and same-day visitors increased by 17.4 percent and 32.7 percent respectively year-on-year.

In the second quarter, per-capita spending of visitors was 1,996 patacas (about $247), up by 11.6 percent year-on-year and 3.9 percent quarter-to-quarter. Per-capita spending of visitors from Chinese mainland rose by 9.5 percent year-on-year to 2,367 patacas (about $293).

Meanwhile, per-capita spending of overnight visitors was 3,012 patacas (about $373), up by 10.2 percent year-on-year, and that of same-day visitors went up by 22.1 percent to 819 patacas (about $101).

With regard to the type of spending, visitors spent mainly on shopping (46.3 percent of total), accommodation (27.8 percent) and food and beverage (18.7 percent) in the second quarter.