Macau has welcomed over 850,000 visitors over the five-day Labour Day Golden Week from May 1st to May 5th— averaging more than 170,000 arrivals each day. This is significant as the arrivals have surpassed the projections made by the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) of 700,000 visitors.
Record highest single-day visitors since COVID
Second day of the Golden Week (2 May) created a new record for the highest single-day number of visitors since the pandemic, registering 221,968 arrivals. According to preliminary data from the Public Security Police Force, the first day of the holiday period witnessed 176,873 visitors, while 92,605 visitors entered Macau on the final day of Golden Week on Monday (5 May).
Macau government data shows that on 3 May, a total of 204,041 visitors arrived while 4 May welcomed 154,411 number of visitors. Last year, Macau recorded 604,395 arrivals over the same holiday. This year’s visitors marked an increase of 33 percent. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of MGTO, had hoped for an average of 140,000 daily visitors.
In related news, Citigroup has reportedly noted that Macau’s monthly premium mass table survey took place during the holiday period and analysts have noted all-time survey record numbers. The analysts, George Choi and Timothy Chau, said this month’s survey highlights that players “remain passionate about gaming and that the ongoing Sino-US trade conflict so far appear not to be discouraging players from enjoying Macau’s gaming and non-gaming offerings.”
Macau’s April GGR figures
In line with the growth momentum, Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) has reported a 1.7 percent rise in total gaming revenue for April 2025. For the month, total gross gaming revenue (GGR) totaled MOP18.86 billion (US$2.36 billion). While it was up from the corresponding period, it marked a decline of 4.1 percent sequentially.
However, analysts have pointed to the slow recovery of the base mass market this year, marking the largely underwhelming gaming revenues so far. Macquarie Equity Research analysts have also noted the potential impact of a recent crackdown on illegal money changers for both the mass and premium mass gaming sectors. The catalyst for these concerns is a police operation that resulted in the arrest of 33 individuals, including 14 casino hosts from Cotai-based casinos.
Last week, brokerage Seaport Research Partners slashed their Macau’s gross gaming revenue growth forecast for 2025 by more than half. The brokerage now expects 3 percent expansion, down from a previous estimate of 6.5 percent. This comes after a “weaker than expected start to the year,” wrote analyst Vitaly Umansky in a memo.
