CNY draws over one million arrivals, falling short of expectations

The number of visitors to Macau during the eight-day holidays that comprise the Spring Festival Golden Week has fallen short of the expectations drawn by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO).

Forecasting an average of 185,000 visitors per day during this period, the actual numbers reached or surpassed this ceiling in only three out of the eight days, falling significantly shorter in at least another three.

Analyzing the figures in contrast to those obtained last year and also in 2019, it is possible to observe that this year, there was a return to the former trend seen pre-pandemic.

The first day saw significantly low visitor figures, followed by a significant hike on the second day and a crescendo leading to the peak reached on Day 4.

On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year (January 31), 219,119 people entered Macau, marking the highest single-day figure during the Spring Festival Golden Week.

This figure also surpassed the highest single day in 2024 when 217,541 people entered Macau on the third day of the annual event.

Such a trend was almost perfectly replicated this year following 2019 results, although back in 2019, the numbers were slightly higher.

This trend line is notably different from last year when, on the first day of the Spring Festival, there was an immediate surge in visitors, peaking on the third day and gradually declining but holding on to a high number over the next two days before the final drop to return to normal levels.

This year, taking into account the first seven days, the daily average number of visitors to Macau was 167,590, a 4.9% drop from 2024 and a 2.4% drop from 2019. This year’s figure is also 9.5% shorter than the MGTO forecast.

Although the final figures for the eight-day holiday were not yet known at the time of this edition, the final statistics for visitors will likely further lower the daily average to around minus 7% compared to last year and around 12% below the MGTO prediction.

According to preliminary figures released by the Public Security Police Force, 62,950 international visitors arrived in Macau during the first seven days, averaging 8,993 daily. This total accounted for about 5.4% of all visitor entries during this period.

HZMB sees record daily passenger trips

The Zhuhai port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge handled 156,000 inbound and outbound passenger trips on Friday, a daily record since the bridge’s opening in 2018. According to the border inspection authorities in Zhuhai, more than 454,000 passenger trips and over 69,000 vehicle trips were recorded through the bridge’s Zhuhai port from Tuesday to Friday, the first four days of the Spring Festival holiday, up 22% and 32% respectively year on year. Daily passenger flows at the port exceeded 100,000 on 50 days in 2024, a 10-fold increase from 2023. More than three million trips by vehicles carrying number plates from Hong Kong or Macau were recorded at the port in 2024, accounting for 55% of its total traffic.