In May, Macau saw a 4.2-percent year-on-year increase in visitor arrivals from the Chinese mainland – the city’s most significant source of tourists. Nonetheless the growth pace slowed from the double-digit percent increase seen in the preceding three months this year.
That is according to a Monday update from Macau’s Statistics and Census Service.
Visitor arrivals from the Chinese mainland tallied just above 2.54 million in May. This cohort accounted for 72.1 percent of Macau’s circa 3.49 million in aggregate visitor arrivals during the month, with the city’s May tourism from all sources having grown 3.4 percent year-on-year.
Out of the circa 2.54 million Chinese-mainland visitors logged in May, around 54.3 percent of them – or 1.38 million – came into Macau via the Chinese authorities’ Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), an exit visa system for Chinese consumers permitted to travel independently, rather than in escorted groups. The number of Macau’s IVS visitors in May grew 5.2 percent year-on-year.
The first five days of May encompassed the mainland’s 2026 Labour Day holiday season. During the period, Macau saw nearly 7 percent year-on-year growth in visitor arrivals from the mainland, at 725,000 entries. That is according to data from Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO).
Nonetheless, for May as a whole, the pace tailed off after the holidays, settling at the 4.2 percent figure year-on-year.
In February, the year-on-year growth in Chinese-mainland visitors to Macau had reached 43.6 percent, coinciding with a nine-day mainland holiday for Chinese New Year this time, with the official break starting on February 15. For the whole of February, the rise from all source markets was circa 33 percent year-on-year.
In March, the year-on-year gain in Macau’s mainland visitors had been 10.6 percent, and in April, 13.1 percent.
Across May this time, Macau’s second-most important feeder source for inbound tourism – neighbouring Hong Kong – supplied 618,341 arrivals in May, down by 0.4 percent year-on-year.
Visitor arrivals from the international markets, i.e., outside the Greater China region, tallied 234,150 in May, up 0.8 percent year-on-year.
The number of Macau’s May overnight visitors declined by 3.0 percent year-on-year to nearly 1.34 million, while the same-day visitor segment grew 7.9 percent, to 2.15 million.
