Macau residents accounted for 53 percent of local hotels' guests last month, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) said in a statement today.
According to the statement, 81,000 of the hotel sector's 152,000 guests in July were local residents. Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in many tourist destinations, staycations have become popular among locals.
Guests from the mainland (55,000) and Hong Kong (11,000) both fell over 90 percent year-on-year last month.
At the end of July, Macau had 114 hotels and guesthouses, down by five from a year earlier. The number of guestrooms decreased 9.3 percent to 35,000.
In the first seven months of the year, the number of guests fell 75.5 percent to 1.98 million.
No tour groups visited Macau last month, the statement pointed out.
Only 200 residents used the services of local travel agencies for outbound travel in July, according to the statement.
In response to the COVID-19 crisis, foreign nationals who do not hold a local residence permit have been barred from Macau since early this year. There have been special entry regulations for mainlanders, Taiwanese and Hongkongers - who in line with Macau's one-China policy are regarded as compatriots - since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
