The Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) hopes that visitor arrivals to Macau can reach between 20,000 and 40,000 a day before the Chinese National Day holiday on October 1 in the wake of more promotional efforts, its deputy director Cheng Wai Tong said.
He made the remarks at the launch of the “Experience Macao, Unlimited” Caravan Roadshow Series across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area in Zhuhai on Sunday, an initiative advanced by the MGTO to promote the tourism offerings of Macau in the nine Mainland Chinese cities of the Greater Bay Area between August and December.
“As long as the situation of COVID-19 development remains stable, visitors will gradually come back to Macau,” he told the local media.
In light of the resumption of quarantine-free travel arrangements between Macau and nearby Zhuhai, Guangdong in early August after the community COVID-19 outbreak in Macau between June and July, the daily visitation level to Macau averaged about 14,700 last week, increasing by about 18 per cent from the week before, the MGTO said in a statement over the weekend.
The daily visitor arrivals to Macau even hit 18,620 on Saturday (August 27), the highest daily tally since the resumption of travel arrangements, the MGTO said. Macau has only maintained largely quarantine-free travel arrangements with Mainland China since the start of the pandemic more than two years ago, and Zhuhai is the main gateway for mainlanders to visit Macau.
The MGTO would “strengthen” the face-to-face and online promotion of the city before the Chinese National Day holiday in hopes of “propelling the daily visitation to Macau back to the level of above 20,000, and even between 30,000 and 40,000”, Mr Cheng said on Sunday.
In the first seven months of 2022, the number of visitors to Macau only reached 3.47 million, or 16,390 travellers a day, declining by 26.3 per cent year-on-year and only translating to 14.6 per cent of the pre-pandemic volume.
Concerning the difficulties faced by some mainland travellers in obtaining a travel visa to Macau, the MGTO deputy director added that the Macau government “is closely monitoring” the situation and would communicate with the central government on the matter.
Besides the caravan roadshow series, the MGTO said in the statement that it has also continued to partner with airlines, e-commerce platforms, and online travel agencies to roll out special offers on flight tickets, hotels and more to entice Mainland Chinese to visit Macau. For instance, discount coupons for accommodation in Macau have been distributed to mainlanders through platforms like Trip.com, Meituan, Fliggy, Qunar and others, the statement read.
A large-scale roadshow “Shandong-Qingdao Macau Week”, organised by various Macau government departments including the MGTO, will also be held on September 8-12 to promote the tourism offerings of Macau in the Chinese eastern city.
