Hotels in Macau enjoyed an occupancy rate of more than 90 per cent over the weekend as a double dose of popular events – the NBA China Games and three nights of concerts – gave the tourism industry a big boost, according to industry experts.
“The NBA played two games to near-full venues of audiences,” Andy Wu Keng-kuong, chairman of the Travel Industry Council of Macau, told the Post on Monday, a day after the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns played their second and final game on Sunday evening.
He said that many tourists had come from both the mainland and abroad specifically for the event.
“I believe the average hotel occupancy rate was quite good. Preliminary estimates actually exceeded 90 per cent because besides the NBA, we also had the concerts.”
Wu was referring to Hong Kong-born rapper and singer Jackson Wang Ka-yee’s three nights of sold-out concerts at the Galaxy Arena from Friday to Sunday, which attracted close to 35,000 fans.
Fans queue up at a stall inside NBA House at the Venetian Arena in Macau, China. Photo: Reuters
Wu said the spending power of NBA participants tended to be higher than that of most typical concertgoers, with tickets mostly in the range of several thousand Hong Kong dollars and peaking at HK$24,888 (US$3,200) for the most expensive VVIP floor passes.