A total of 90,615 visitors arrived in Macao during the Spring Festival holiday from Feb 11 to 17, a drop of 65.3 percent year on year, the Macao Government Tourism Office said on Friday.

Of them, 82,190 people were from the mainland, representing a decline of 44.9 percent compared to a year earlier.

However, on Feb 16 and 17, the number of mainland visitors entering the special administrative region rose 5.3 percent and 22.8 percent respectively year on year, showed the official data.

During the holiday, the average occupancy rate of hotels and guesthouses in Macao stood at 48.3 percent, falling by 4.6 percentage points from the same period of last year, according to data provided by the hospitality industry.

Meanwhile, the average hotel room price was around 1,175 patacas ($147.2), dropping 42.1 percent year on year.

The tourism office said the number of visitors to Macao is expected to rebound as the COVID-19 pandemic situation continues to stabilize in the mainland and the COVID-19 vaccination drive expands.

Targeting the mainland market, the office said it will step up efforts to promote Macao as a safe tourist destination to enhance the recovering of its tourism market.