An aerial view of Macau's skyline and luxury hotel resorts in 2025. Photo by Abhishek Navlakha on Pexels

According to data from Macau's Statistics and Census Service, the number of foreign guests was up 12.3% year-on-year to 662,000 during the period.

The number of Thai visitors rose by 43.5% to 54,000 visitors and American arrivals by 27.8% to 34,000.

Other key growth markets included India (up 16.1% to 48,000) and South Korea (up 13.0% to 191,000).

But the overall number of hotel guests edged down 1.1% to 7.13 million mainly due to a 2.5% decline in visitors from mainland China (5.21 million) and Hong Kong (857,000), traditionally Macau's two largest sources.

In terms of segments, five-star hotels led with 93.8% occupancy, up 1.3 percentage points.

But four-star hotels saw the fastest growth, with occupancy rising by 4.3 percentage points to 87.4%.

That there was a rise in occupancy rates despite having fewer guests indicated that visitors were extending their stays.

Rather than making brief day trips, tourists also spent nights in the city to enjoy its attractions and dining.

Another change in travel preferences was that package tour visitor numbers fell by 12.6% to 845,000, indicating a growing preference for independent, self-planned itineraries, according to tourism news outlet SiGMA.