Thanks to Macau's increase in overnight visitors, the average occupancy rate of hotel guestrooms rose by 32.1 percentage points year-on-year to 55.3 percent last month, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) announced yesterday.
In the first quarter, the average room occupancy rate grew by 3.6 percentage points year-on-year to 44.9 percent.
In March, the number of available guestrooms at Macau's 120 hotels and inns increased by seven 120 compared to a year earlier.
Hotels and inns booked by the government for COVID-19 prevention quarantine were excluded from the data, a statement by the bureau pointed out.
A total of 622,000 guests checked into local hotels and inns last month, an increment of 160.2 percent year-on-year. Guests from the mainland rose by 216.5 percent to 539,000, accounting for 86.6 percent of the total.
Foreign nationals without a local residence permit continue to be barred from entry.
Guests' average length of stay fell by 0.1 night year-on-year to 1.7 nights last month.
Between January and March, the number of hotel and inn guests dropped by 1.2 percent year-on-year to 1.45 million.
Macau's tourism industry is gradually recovering from the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local economy. Macau recorded its first COVID-19 case on January 22 last year. The number of novel coronavirus cases detected in Macau stands at 49 with zero fatalities.
