Macau's Tourism Faces a Dip in International Visitors in August

Macau experienced a notable decrease in its international visitor numbers in August, according to data released by the city's Statistics and Census Service. The international visitors tally dropped by 9.8% compared to the same month the previous year, totaling 171,679 and accounting for 3.8% of Macau's total of nearly 4.48-million visitors for August. This decline reflects broader trends observed in various overseas markets, contrasting with a rise in tourists from Mainland China.

Overseas Visitor Market: Diverse Trends

Multiple overseas markets demonstrated varying trends concerning visitor numbers in Macau for August. The visitor count from the Philippines and Indonesia saw significant decreases of 18.5% and 16.9% respectively, with numbers recorded at 31,282 for the Philippines and 11,106 for Indonesia. Analysts have suggested that rising fuel prices in the Philippines, influenced by geopolitical tensions between the United States and Iran, adversely affected consumer confidence and spending.

There was a slight positive note with Malaysia, where visitor numbers increased by 2.1%, reaching 8,161. However, India did not follow this upward trend, experiencing a 17.6% decline, with numbers reaching 6,430. South Korea and Japan also saw decreases of 12.6% and 31.1% respectively from the previous year, with South Korean visitors numbering 30,738 and Japanese visitors at 11,464. In the long-haul segment, the United States visitors totaled 11,713, with a marginal decrease of 0.4% from a year earlier.

Mainland China and Hong Kong Influence on Visitor Patterns

Visitors from Mainland China, which constitute a primary market for Macau, saw an increase of 9.3% year-on-year. The number of tourists from China amounting to just over 3.56 million represented 79.5% of all visitors in August.

Notably, travelers under the Individual Visit Scheme reached nearly 2.02 million, marking a 12.7% growth. Despite the overall increase, visitors from neighboring Hong Kong decreased by 5.6%, with 643,445 visitors constituting 14.4% of the total for August.

On the other hand, tourists from Taiwan surged by 13.7%, with 101,282 visitors recorded. The number of same-day visitors also rose by 11.7% year-on-year, totaling just over 2.85 million, equivalent to 63.7% of all arrivals. Conversely, overnight visitor numbers dropped by 2.4%, accounting for nearly 1.65 million of the visitors.

Despite this, the average length of stay for visitors remained mostly stable, with the daily average slightly decreasing by 0.1 days to one day, while overnight visitors maintained their average at 2.3 days.

Overall, the total visitor figures for Macau for the first eight months of the year surpassed 28.96 million, with same-day visitors showing a growth of 13.6% to over 17.85 million, while overnight visitors amounted to slightly over 11.11 million, a slight decrease of 0.6%.

Source: Macau’s overseas visitor tally down 9.8pct y-o-y in August: govt, GGRAsia, September 18, 2026.