Macau sees 19.2 million visitors in H1 2025, second-highest on record

Macau welcomed 19.2 million visitors in the first half of 2025, marking a 14.9% increase from the same period last year and the second-highest first-half total ever recorded, government data showed.

The figure trails only the 20.3 million arrivals recorded in the first six months of 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted international travel. The latest surge was driven primarily by tourists from mainland China and Hong Kong, who accounted for 90.6% of total arrivals. Just 1.34 million visitors came from overseas markets.

According to the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), more than 58% of arrivals, or 11.2 million visitors, came on organised tours and stayed in the city for less than a day.

The rise in visitation follows a series of travel and policy changes introduced by mainland Chinese authorities and local officials. Since January 1, residents of neighbouring Zhuhai have been allowed to visit Macau once a week and stay for up to seven days. Beijing also expanded the list of cities eligible for the individual visit scheme and raised the tax exemption limit for personal-use goods brought by mainland visitors.

In a move to boost international traffic, Macau began offering visa-free access to citizens of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman from July 16, following a promotional campaign by tourism officials in the Gulf region earlier this year.

Despite the uptick in arrivals, average tourist spending excluding casinos declined by 13.2% in the first quarter compared to a year earlier. DSEC cited a “shift in visitor spending patterns” as a key factor behind a 1.3% contraction in the city's gross domestic product between January and March - the first year-on-year economic decline since Macau began lifting Covid-related restrictions in late 2022.

Macau tourism officials have maintained ambitious annual targets. In January, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macau Government Tourism Office, said she expected between 38 million and 39 million visitors in 2025. In August, she set a separate goal of more than 3 million international arrivals.

Macau recorded 34.9 million visitors in 2024, a 23.8% increase from 2023, but still short of the all-time high of 39.4 million in 2019.