Tourist prices post five-year low growth in Q1

The city’s tourist price index (TPI) in the first quarter of this year posted a five-year low growth as accommodation costs for visitors in the period had dropped, the latest data released by the Statistics and Census Service shows. Macau’s TPI, an index meant to gauge price changes in goods and services purchased by visitors, increased by 1.51 per cent year-on-year to 146.19 points in the first quarter, according to official data. The first quarter TPI also represents an annualised increase of 3.63 per cent, representing a growth level at a five-year low. The sub-index for accommodation costs, a major component in the basket of goods and services that visitors consume here, dropped by a year-on-year 4.33 per cent due to ‘lower room rates for 3 and 4-star hotels’, the census service concluded. This corresponds to information gathered by the Macau Hotel Association, which in its latest survey noted lower room rates for both 3 and 4-star hotels in the first two months of this year: the average rate for the city’s 3-star hotels had dropped by about 7 per cent year-on-year to MOP1,236 (HK$154.8) while that for 4-star hotels dipped by about 3 per cent to MOP1,102. The inflation felt by visitors here in the first quarter was primarily attributable to costlier restaurant services and clothing, the official data noted. The sub-index for restaurant services, another major component in visitors’ spending items, increased by 7.86 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter. The index for clothing in the period increased by 5.49 per cent. The census service data also indicates that visitors here have experienced a notable increase in ‘entertainment and cultural activities’, although this spending category is a minor component in the goods and services that are gauged for price changes. The sub-index for entertainment and cultural activities increased by 5.18 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter, a spending item that shows the third biggest cost increase following restaurant services and clothing. Melco and Taubman join forces in Studio City Yesterday, Melco Crown Entertainment and Taubman Asia, a subsidiary of U.S. mall REIT, Taubman Centers, Inc. unveiled plans to deliver an entertainment-centered shopping experience in its upcoming resort Studio City. Taubman Asia is providing merchandising, marketing and management services for its retail project. The Boulevard at Studio City will provide a 300,000 sq. ft. ‘immersive’ retail entertainment environment and will transport guests to high-energy streetscapes, entertaining them at every turn with featured streets and squares inspired by iconic shopping and entertainment locations, including New York’s Times Square and Hollywood’s Beverly Hills.