17% jump in wagers for Macau Chinese New Year

The Macau Government Tourism Office recorded 1.554 million visitor arrivals during the nine-day Spring Festival/Golden Week holiday. Officials expected up to 1.5 million visitors for the period, which kicked off on 15 February with Chinese New Year.

Figures released on Wednesday showed that average daily arrivals for the period exceeded 173,000, up 5.5% from 2025. Hotels enjoyed average occupancy of 95.6% for the duration and reached 99.2% on 20 February. As usual, most of the visitors hailed from mainland China: 134,000 per day, up 7.2% from last year. International visitation also got a boost: 7,900 tourists per day, up 8.2% from 2025.

Golden Week is prime time for travel to Macau, the only place in China where gambling is legal.

Premium mass came to play

The tourism boom corresponded with a 17% surge in premium mass wagers. The total came to HKD24.4 million, suggesting that “premium mass demand remains robust”, wrote Citigroup analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau. The volume of premium mass players also grew 3% to 824, wagering an average of HKD29,625, up 13% from last year.

VIP spend was also robust. Citi’s whale watch noted 53 big-spenders at the gaming tables during the holiday period, up from just four in 2025. They wagered a total of HK$11.3 million, or an average of HK$213,000 per person.

The Citi team estimates total monthly gross gaming revenue of MOP20 billion, up 1% year-on-year.