Characteristics of visitor expenditure in Macao and their impact on its economic growth

This article assesses the economic impact of visitor expenditure in Macao and the impacts of major expense types to the visitor expenditure. As consumption habits are changing gradually, which can be reflected in the consumption habits of the tourists, we concentrate on the characteristics of visitor expenditure to analyze the factors that drive up the consumption. This article analyzes the relative statistical indicators from 2010 to 2016 in Macao using the ordinary least squares method. According to empirical analysis of this study, 1 Macanese Patacas (MOP) of visitor expenditure can create 7.896 MOP in additional gross domestic product (GDP) in Macao. Moreover, “transportation” and “shopping” present obvious equal status on the pulling function to the visitor expenditure, which indicates that a better transportation system can increase more consumption opportunities. The items of “shopping” and “cosmetics and perfume” have a distinctively high pulling function to the visitor expenditure. This indicates that the power of female consumer group should be emphasized. Compared with other commodities, we observed the obvious pulling function of “local food products,” which shows that the culture-based tourism experience will be helpful to promote the visitor expenditure. In discussing the results, relevant suggestions for developing the diversified tourism in Macao are presented in the article.