(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-14 19:50

Macao -- The number of Macao's hotel guests amounted to 5.2 million in the first 11 months of 2007, up by 24.1 percent year-on-year, according to official statistics released on Monday.

Information from the Statistics and Census Service of Macao Special Administrative Government indicated that, merely in November 2007, the number of hotel guests soared by 13.9 percent year-on-year to 505,112, while the average hotel occupancy rate grew by 8.2 percentage points to 85.8 percent, with four-star hotels leading at 89.7 percent.

At the end of November 2007, the number of guest rooms available in the hotel sector increased by 3,047 from a year ago to 15,740, according to the statistics.

In addition, the statistics also showed that hotel guests (excluding Macao residents) accounted for 42.4 percent of the total tourist number between January and November, up 41.4 percent over the same period of 2006.

The number of Macao's hotel room is expected to keep on rising, as more integrated hotel projects, like the Ponte 16, a mega casino resort built and to be open in February by SJM (a gaming company owned by Macao magnate Stanley Ho), will be completed in years to come.