City scores record low tourist arrivals during Easter break

A staircase near the entrance of The Parisian Macao integrated resort in Cotai, a once popular area for tourists seen on Saturday devoid of visitors

Tourist arrivals during the Easter break hit a record low after the city only recorded 810 arrivals over the weekend, plunging 99.8% compared to the same holiday period in 2019.
Last year, the SAR recorded some 556,200 tourist arrivals over the four-day break, or an average of 139,000 per day.
However, this year, due to global travel restrictions amid the pandemic outbreak, official data shows that 260 visitors arrived in the SAR on Good Friday, followed by 280 on Saturday and 270 on Easter Sunday.
Macau continues to face a decline in its tourist arrivals as visitors from its number one source market are mostly prevented from traveling to the region due to the Central Government’s suspension of the individual visit scheme and Guangdong’s requirement that all arrivals, even its own residents, must undergo a 14-day quarantine.
Macau has not adopted reciprocal restrictions for mainland residents wishing to travel to Macau and the city’s Chief Executive, Ho Iat Seng, has been determined to keep the border with the mainland open since the start of the year.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government is still banning overseas tours and the purchase of flights and hotels abroad, calling on travel agencies to suspend package tours, which account for more than half of the country’s outbound travel.
The outbreak of Covid-19 has affected travel and led to a notable decline in visitor arrivals.
The drop was evident as early as during this year’s Spring Festival, when visitors from Macau’s major visitor source market – mainland China – dropped by more than 80%, while visitors from Hong Kong, Taiwan region and international markets all fell by about half.
Last year Macau received 39.4 million tourists, setting a new record for the small city of less than 700,000 people.