Macau is heading into the February 17 Lunar New Year with clear momentum on its side: the city closed 2025 with 40,069,360 visitor arrivals, up 14.7% year-on-year, driven largely by a rebound in same-day trips and cross-border mobility.
Official data show Mainland China accounted for 29,017,164 visitors in 2025 (+18.5%), while arrivals from Hong Kong reached 7,300,582 (+1.7%). International visitors also improved to 2,755,474 (+13.7%), reinforcing the view that Macau’s recovery is broadening beyond its core feeder markets.
The composition matters for casino operators: the average length of stay slipped to 1.1 days, reflecting a larger share of same-day visitors—good for volume, but it increases competition for entertainment time and wallet share on a tighter clock. Land crossings dominated at 82.6% of arrivals, while air arrivals represented 7.6% in 2025, underscoring how dependent peak periods remain on border throughput and ground transport capacity.
On the demand side, travel platforms are signaling a strong holiday cycle. Fliggy has pointed to Spring Festival travel bookings rising by over 40% versus last year, suggesting consumers are planning earlier and in greater numbers as the holiday approaches. In parallel, China’s civil aviation regulator has projected 95 million passenger trips during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush (Feb 2–Mar 13), a record pace that would lift regional flight activity and spill over into short-haul destinations such as Macau.
For Macau’s gaming floors, the practical takeaway is operational: tighter hotel inventory, heavier weekend compression, and a premium on fast, high-quality service delivery to convert higher footfall into spend—especially in premium mass segments where time-on-property is the limiting factor.
