VISITOR EXPENDITURE SURVEY
2nd QUARTER / 2007
No. 2
Official Statistics. Reproduction of these data is allowed provided the source is quoted.
Statistics and Census Service
17th floor, “Dynasty Plaza” Bldg., 411-417 Alameda Dr. Carlos d'Assumpção, Macao Tel: 3995311 Fax: 28307825
In the second quarter of 2007, per-capita spending of visitors increased slightly by 1% year- on-year to MOP_1,480. Per-capita spending of visitors from Mainland China topped at MOP_2,867. Compared with the second quarter of 2006, per-capita spending of tourists was held stable at MOP 2,081, while that of same-day visitors increased by 6% to MOP 554.
Table 1 : Per-capita spending of visitors by place of residence
Visitor Tourist Same-day visitor
Q2 2006 Q2 2007 Q2 2007 Q2 2007
Place of residence
MOP
Year-on-year change
(%) MOP
Year-on-year change
(%) MOP
Year-on-year change
(%)
Total 1 468 1 480 0.8 2 081 -0.5 554 6.1
Mainland China 2 875 2 867 -0.3 4 233 -0.2 931 21.9 Hong Kong 919 969 5.4 1 271 5.5 423 -3.9 Taiwan, China 1 174 1 109 -5.5 2 191 8.1 328 -1.5 Japan 668 753 12.7 1 539 9.7 441 -15.0 Southeast Asia 1 035 1 227 18.6 1 600 5.5 406 10.3 Europe 957 856 -10.6 1 529 -31.3 336 22.6 Americas 1 284 1 033 -19.5 2 090 -0.8 468 31.1 Oceania 779 1 080 38.6 1 831 5.2 328 43.2
Per-capita non-shopping and shopping spending
Per-capita non-shopping spending of visitors grew by 9% year-on-year to MOP 875.
Expenses on accommodation and food & beverage accounted for 40% and 39% respectively of the non-shopping spending.
Per-capita shopping spending of visitors amounted to MOP 606, down by 9% over the same quarter of 2006. Local food products (32% of shopping spending) and clothing (15%) were the two most popular shopping items on the list.
Although gaming expenses are not considered in the per-capita spending of visitors, about 53% of the interviewed visitors in this quarter claimed that they had gambled during their stay in Macao.
Table 2 : Visitor spending by type of expense a
Q2 2006 Q2 2007 Type of expense
MOP
Year-on-year change
(%)
Per-capita spending 1468 1480 0.8
Non-shopping spending 800 875 9.4
Accommodation 295 349 18.3
Food and beverage 316 339 7.3
Local transport 46 49 6.5
Outbound transport (excluding airfare) 123 120 -2.4 Entertainment and others 20 17 -15.0
Shopping spending 668 606 -9.3
Clothing 119 90 -24.4
Jewellery/watches 93 63 -32.3
Local food products 175 191 9.1
Cosmetics/ perfume 64 69 7.8
Cellular phones/electrical equipment 103 80 -22.3
Others 114 112 -1.8
Figures may not add up to the totals stated due to rounding.
a Excluding gaming expenses
Graph I : Per-capita shopping spending of visitors by place of residence
MOP
0 200 400 600 800 1 000 1 200 1 400 1 600 1 800 2 000 2 200
Europe Americas S.E.
Asia Mainland
China
HK Taiwan,
China
Japan Oceania
Q2 2006 Q2 2007
With regard to spending structure, visitors from Mainland China spent 60% of the per-capita spending on shopping, whereas those from Hong Kong and Taiwan, China spent 79% and 74% of their respective per-capita spending on non-shopping items.
In addition, the types of goods purchased by Mainland visitors had diversified to a wider variety, including cellular phones/electrical equipment (18% of shopping spending), clothing (16%), local food products (16%), cosmetics/perfume (15%) and jewellery/watches (14%). For the visitors from Hong Kong and Taiwan, China, 83% and 63% of their per-capita shopping spending were spent on local food products.
Graph II : Structure of visitor’s per-capita spending by place of residence
0 500 1 000 1 500 2 000 2 500 3 000
Per-diem spending
Per-diem spending of visitors amounted to MOP 1,382 in the second quarter of 2007, dropped by 2% over the same period of 2006. Mainland visitors had the highest per-diem spending of MOP_2,290.
Length of stay
In this quarter, the average length of stay of visitors increased by 0.1 day year-on-year to 1.1 days, while the average for tourists (1.6 days) and same-day visitors (0.2 day) was similar to the second quarter of 2006.
Table 3 : Average length of stay
Day Length of stay
Type of visitors
Q2 2006 Q2 2007 Difference
Visitor 1.0 1.1 +0.1
Tourist 1.6 1.6 -
Same-day visitor 0.2 0.2 -
S.E.
Asia Mainland
China
HK Taiwan, China
Japan Europe Oceania
Shopping spending Non-shopping spending Americas
MOP
Business & attending conventions/exhibitions
12%
Characteristics of visitors
Around 73% of the interviewed visitors came to Macao mainly for vacation; other major purposes of visit included business & attending conventions/exhibitions (12%), visiting relatives/friends (8%) and gaming (3%).
Graph III : Main purpose of visit
With regard to occupation of visitors, 24% were legislators, senior officials & managers;
22% were clerks, and 9% were technicians & associate professionals. Moreover, 23% were the unemployed and economically inactive persons, including housewives, students, as well as retired persons.
Comments from visitors
All the interviewed visitors commented on the environmental hygiene and points of tourist attractions in Macao. They were more satisfied with the environmental hygiene, with 54% in favour. On the other hand, 12% considered that the points of tourist attractions in Macao were inadequate.
For the interviewees who travelled in package tours, 71% complimented on the services rendered by travel agencies. As regards to other services and facilities, 72% of the visitor-users were satisfied with the services of gaming establishments; there were also favourable comments on the services of hotel (67%), shops (60%), restaurants (59%) and public transport (49%).
However, 16% of the interviewed visitors suggested that the public transport services should be improved.
Table 4：Comments from visitors on services and facilities
%
Services and facilities Satisfied Fair Should be
improved No comment
Travel agencies 71 21 5 4
Hotels 67 26 5 1
Restaurants 59 33 6 2
Shops 60 33 4 4
Public transport 49 32 16 3
Visiting relatives/friends 8%
Others 4%
Vacation 73%
Gaming 3%
Methodology Visitor Expenditure Survey is conducted at different departure points on a daily basis, to collect information on visitors’ spending (excluding gaming expenses) during their stay in Macao.
To facilitate the data collection process, the questionnaire is available in Chinese, Portuguese, English and Japanese.
Method of sampling
Due to the vast volume of visitor movements at different departure points, systematic sampling method is applied in selecting samples from all visitors who are non-residents of Macao.
Table 5 : Sampling errors
MOP
Visitor Tourist Same-day visitor
Type of spending
Q2 2006 Q2 2007 Q2 2006 Q2 2007 Q2 2006 Q2 2007
Per-capita spending 40.3 43.4 63.3 67.9 13.0 16.9
Non-shopping spending 13.9 17.0 19.9 24.6 3.4 3.3
Shopping spending 33.2 34.1 53.7 54.7 13.3 17.3
Concept Visitora:
Any person travelling to a place other than that of his/her usual environment for less than 12 consecutive months and whose main purpose of travel is other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited.
Classification of visitors:
a) Tourist (overnight visitor): visitor who stays at least one night in a collective or private accommodation in the country visiteda. In addition, we have added two criteria, which are as follows:
1) visitor who stays for more than 24 hours in Macao, or
2) visitor who stays for less than 24 hours and does not stay overnight in Macao but with his/her arrangement made in a collective accommodation such as hotel, guest-houses, etc.
b) Same-day visitor a: visitor who does not spend the night in a collective or private accommodation in the country visited.
Symbols and abbreviations - Absolute value equals zero
MOP Macao Pataca
% Per cent
The following statistical tables can be downloaded from our website
1- Characteristics of interviewed visitors by place of residence
2- Average length of stay of interviewed visitors by place of residence 3- Per-capita spending of interviewed visitors by place of residence
4- Per-capita non-shopping spending of interviewed visitors by place of residence 5- Per-capita shopping spending of interviewed visitors by place of residence 6- Per-diem spending of interviewed visitors by place of residence
7- Per-capita spending of interviewed visitors by place of residence and type of expense
8- Per-capita shopping spending of interviewed visitors by place of residence and type of expense
9- Other characteristics of interviewed visitors by place of residence 10- Occupation of interviewed visitors by place of residence
11- Sampling errors of per-capita spending of interviewed visitors by place of residence and type of expense
12- Sampling errors of per-capita shopping spending of interviewed visitors by place of residence and type of expense
13- Interviewed visitors’ comments on services of travel agencies
14- Interviewed visitors’ comments on services of restaurants and similar establishments 15- Interviewed visitors’ comments on services of hotels and similar establishments 16- Interviewed visitors’ comments on services of shops
17- Interviewed visitors’ comments on services of public transport 18- Interviewed visitors’ comments on environmental hygiene 19- Interviewed visitors’ comments on points of tourist attractions
20- Interviewed visitors’ comments on services of gaming establishments
