95,000 | Christmas weekend sees visitor numbers spike

The number of mainland tourists entering Macau over the Christmas holiday weekend reached over 95,000, figures reported by the Public Security Police Force (PSP) show.

According to the local authorities, in the three days from December 24 to 26 around 95,000 tourist arrivals were reported, the highest figure being recorded on Christmas Eve when around 40,000 visitors entered Macau.

The following day (Christmas Day) recorded a comparable tourist’s entry figure of around 37,000, while the final day of the weekend recorded significantly fewer entries, at only slightly over 18,000.

The total number of border crossings, including entries and exits of visitors, non-resident workers, and local residents, reached a total of 330,000 on December 26, the same sources reported.

The figures reported by the PSP confirm the trend previously reported by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) that over 40,000 people had entered Macau on one single day (December 24) making it one of the highest single-day entries of the whole year.

With the border restrictions currently in force, no foreign tourists may enter the city: only mainland arrivals are permitted.

Recent MGTO figures show that although 2021 has seen weak visitor numbers, it still registered a significant increase from 2020.

In the third quarter (Q3) this year total visitor arrivals reached 1,827,699; almost a 2.5-fold increase from the same quarter in 2020 (around 750,000).

Still, this figure is a long way from the almost 10 million registered during Q3 in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.

So far, the highest number of tourist arrivals this year was recorded in the second quarter (April to June) which saw almost 2.2 million visitors to the city.

From the results recorded so far, it is estimated that the year will close with a total number of visitor arrivals at around 8 million: over 2 million more than in 2020 (25%) and around 80% less than in 2019.