China's Inland Tourists Spend Most in Macao

China's Inland Tourists Spend Most in Macao

Tourists from China's inland were again the most generous group with per capita spending in the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) amounting to 2,560 patacas (320 US dollars) in the last quarter of 2002. This was much more than the average of 1,570 patacas (196.25 dollars) for all visitors to the city, which represents a year-on-year rise of 17 percent, the Statistics and Census Services posted Monday. Visitors from Hong Kong, the largest tourist provider for Macao, spent a mere 936 patacas (117 dollars) each on average, the least among all sources of tourists. The inland tourists poured much of their money into shopping, catering and hotel accommodation, excluding spending in casinos. At stores, they were often seen snapping up jewelry, timepieces and apparel and cloth. Industry insiders say that continuos rise of consumption of inland tourists has pushed forward retail sales and related tourist service industries in Macao. Macao's tourism revenues, however, could be even more if an ideal shopping environment is presented to visitors, market watchers note. Compared with the nearby Hong Kong SAR, Macao's stores are relatively smaller in size and lack commodities. After the China National Tourism Administration eased restrictions on Macao-bound tours, the number of inlanders visiting Macao has jumped to more than one third of the total thatthe SAR hosted. The Macao Government Tourist Office has selected dozens of so-called "ground-receiving" travel agencies with sound reputation to host inland tourists, intensified training on tour guides and kept cracking down on illegal business in the market.