The average occupancy rate of hotel rooms in Macao in January dropped 13.5% year-on-year to almost 80%, officials said on Friday.

In the 122 hotels and guesthouses in Macao, the average occupancy rate of guest rooms dropped to 79.4%. The number of guests checked into these hotels and guesthouses in January also fell, by 11.4% year-on-year.

Guests coming from mainland China (792,000), South Korea (42,000) and Taiwan (31,000) dropped by 11.3%, 23% and 20.9% respectively, while those from Hong Kong (107,000) grew by 11.0%.

Casinos closed: In early February, Macao, one of the world’s top gambling hubs, announced plans to close its casinos amid fears of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.

The government of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory said it would suspend operations in gambling and other related industries for about two weeks, Macao Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng said at the time.