Gov’t to invest MOP21 mln in Light Festival, the first major event since the pandemic

Local authorities will invest MOP21 million (US$2.6 million) in this year’s Light Festival, the first major event since the beginning of the pandemic, “a first step” to promote the image of a safe city, officials announced today (Thursday).

The start of the festival was even anticipated from December to the end of September in order to coincide with a possible first ‘wave’ of Chinese tourists as the country’s authorities will restart the issue individual and group visas for all provinces on September 23.

Local airline Air Macau will also reinforce routes to Chinese cities and hotels by that period and hotel reservations have started showing positive indications, but still with an occupancy rate that does not exceed an average of 25 per cent, according to Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes.

Speaking on the sidelines of the press conference that served to present the Light Festival, Fernandes was very cautious about the impact of the return of visas and even estimated that the number of visitors to the fetsival should attract about 200,000 people, that is, half of last year.

In a year in which many of the large-scale events were cancelled or postponed, the sixth edition of the Macau Light Festival is defined by the authorities as “a warm-up event to welcome visitors”.

The festival will take place from September 26 to October 31, with four main routes connecting Macau and the island of Taipa through luminous installations, video projection shows and interactive games.