VISITOR EXPENDITURE SURVEY
4th QUARTER / 2006
No. 4
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 fourth quarter of 2006, per-capita spending of visitors rose by 6% year-on-year to MOP 1,670 and that of Mainland visitors topped with MOP 3,562. Compared with the same quarter of 2005, per-capita spending of tourists increased slightly by 1% to MOP 2,345, while that of same-day visitors fell by 6% to MOP 522.
Table 1 : Per-capita spending of visitors by place of residence
Visitor Tourist Same-day visitor
Q4 2005 Q4 2006 Q4 2006 Q4 2006
Place of residence
MOP
Year-on- year change
(%) MOP
Year-on- year change
(%) MOP
Year-on- year change
(%)
Per-capita spending 1 574 1 670 6.1 2 345 0.9 522 -6.3 Mainland China 3 185 3 562 11.8 4 824 6.7 805 -14.5 Hong Kong 873 970 11.1 1 268 3.7 442 3.8 Taiwan, China 1 269 1 403 10.6 1 966 -5.2 375 9.6 Japan 868 654 -24.7 1 556 -13.3 482 13.1 Southeast Asia 1 167 1 523 30.5 1 894 14.5 472 -11.6 Europe 712 589 -17.3 961 -36.9 332 22.5 Americas 1 116 823 -26.3 1 491 -1.6 526 6.7
Oceania 781 747 -4.4 1 270 62.6 363 ..
Per-capita non-shopping and shopping spending
Per-capita non-shopping spending of visitors increased by 6% to MOP 925 over the fourth quarter of 2005, of which the expenses on Accommodation and Food & beverage accounted for 41% and 38% respectively.
Per-capita shopping spending amounted to MOP 745, up by 6% year-on-year. Food / candy (27% of shopping spending) and Clothing (18%) were two of the more popular shopping items.
Although gaming expenses are not considered in the per-capita spending, about 54% of the interviewed visitors in this quarter claimed that they had gambled during their stay in Macao.
Table 2：Visitor spending by type of expenses a
Q4 2005 Q4 2006
Type of expenses
MOP
Year-on-year change
(%)
Per-capita spending 1 574 1 670 6.1
Non-shopping spending 870 925 6.3
Accommodation 316 377 19.3
Food and beverage 338 347 2.7
Local transport 54 51 -5.6
Outbound transport (excluding airfare) 131 121 -7.6
Entertainment and others 30 30 -
Shopping spending 704 745 5.8
Clothing 139 135 -2.9
Jewellery / watches 89 114 28.1
Food / candy 174 200 14.9
Cosmetics / perfume 79 68 -13.9
Cellular phones / electrical equipment 96 79 -17.7
Others 128 149 16.4
Total may not add up to the value stated due to rounding.
a Excluding gaming expenses
Graph 1：Per-capita shopping spending of visitors by place of residence
Europe Americas S.E.
Asia Mainland
China
HK Taiwan,
China
Japan Oceania
Q4 2005 Q4 2006 MOP
0 500 1 000 1 500 2 000 2 500
With regard to spending structure, visitors from Mainland China spent 61% of their per- capita spending on shopping, whereas those from Hong Kong and Taiwan, China spent 78% and 71% of their respective per-capita spending on non-shopping items.
In addition, the types of goods purchased by Mainland visitors diversified to a wider variety, including Jewellery / watches (20% of shopping spending), Clothing (20%), Cellular Phones / electrical equipment (14%) and Food / candy (13%). For the visitors from Hong Kong and Taiwan, China, 81% and 52% of their respective shopping spending were spent on Food / candy.
Graph 2：Composition of per-capita spending by place of residence
Per-diem spending
Per-diem spending of visitors amounted to MOP 1,470, up by 2% over the fourth quarter of 2005 and that of Mainland visitors topped with MOP 2,375.
Length of stay
In this quarter, the average length of stay of visitors (1.1 days), tourists (1.7 days) and same- day visitors (0.2 day) remained at the same level as in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Table 3：Average length of stay
Day Length of stay
Type of visitors
Q4 2005 Q4 2006
Difference
Visitor 1.1 1.1 -
Tourist 1.7 1.7 -
Same-day visitor 0.2 0.2 -
S.E.
Asia Mainland
China
HK Taiwan, China
Japan Europe Oceania
Non-shopping spending Shopping spending Americas
MOP
0 500 1 000 1 500 2 000 2 500 3 000 3 500 4 000
Characteristics of visitors
Around 70% of the interviewed visitors came to Macao mainly for vacation; other major purposes included business (13%), visiting relatives or friends (9%) and gaming (5%).
Graph 3：Major purpose of visit
Analyzed by the occupation of visitors, 26% were legislators, senior officials and managers;
23% were clerks, and 10% were technicians and associate professionals. Besides, 20% were the unemployed and the economically inactive persons, including housewives, students, as well as retired persons.
Comments from visitors
All the interviewed visitors gave comments on the environmental hygiene and tourist attractions in Macao. They were more satisfied with the environmental hygiene, with 54% in favour. However, 10% considered that the points of tourist attractions were inadequate.
For the interviewees who travelled in package tours, 74% complimented on the services rendered by travel agencies. As regards to the services and facilities, 72% of the visitor-users were satisfied with the gaming establishments; favourable comments were also received on the services of hotels (69%), restaurants (62%), shops (59%) and public transport (46%).
However, 18% of the interviewed visitors commented that the services of public transport should be improved.
Table 4：Comments on services and facilities
% Services and facilities Satisfied Fair Should be
improved No comment
Travel agencies 74 20 3 3
Hotels 69 26 4 1
Restaurants 62 32 4 2
Shops 59 34 3 4
Others 3%
Visiting relatives or friends 9%
Vacation 70%
Gaming 5%
Business 13%
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 Q4 2005 Q4 2006 Q4 2005 Q4 2006 Q4 2005 Q4 2006
Per-capita spending 50.7 50.1 83.9 75.6 15.2 13.5
Non-shopping spending 17.7 16.8 27.0 22.9 3.5 3.8
Shopping spending 42.8 42.5 72.8 66.2 15.6 13.9
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 visitora: 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
.. Not applicable
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
