Vice Chairman of the Macau Hotel Association Rutger Verschuren says that he expects a “very good” hotel room occupancy rate for the Labour Day holiday on Friday and Saturday, but notes that there will be a drop in occupancy and room rates starting Sunday, the hotelier told English-language media on the sidelines of yesterday’s World Earth Day event hosted at Artyzen Grand Lapa Macau.
Verschuren is also the Area Vice President, Macau and Hengqin of Artyzen Hospitality Group and General Manager of Artyzen Grand Lapa Macau.
The Labour Day Golden Week holiday in the Chinese mainland lasts a total of five days. Verschuren noted that there will still be high occupancy for five days, though room rates will drop on the third day.
Verschuren added that overall, he believes that room rates have been slightly below last year, by around 10 percent across the city, noting that it is less expensive for tourists while the association is still happy with it, noting that Macau “is still in a very good condition”. However, a slight drop in international visitor arrivals can be observed due to the ongoing [Iran] war, he said.
“A few of our arrivals still fly through Dubai”, noting that some are flying again with Emirates as the prices are much more affordable, though one needs to be prepared for a stopover and some delay.
However, an upside is more regional travel, said Verschuren, with people opting to travel to places such as the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, China’s Taiwan region and South Korea. “They’d also rather not fly to Europe at this time, so they’re making shorter trips. So that is the upside. We see more of that at the moment”, he noted.
Vice Chairman of the Macau Hotel Association Rutger Verschuren takes part in an activity during yesterday’s annual World Earth Day initiative by IC2 Association (I Can Too). – Photo: Rui Pastorin
