A tourism portal in China has recorded 10 times more searches year-on-year after Covid measures were loosened, with Macau topping the list of intended destinations.
Half an hour after Beijing relaxed Covid-19 restrictions on mainland China, Ctrip, the mainland version of travel portal Trip.com, received a skyrocketing number of queries regarding traveling outside the mainland.
The number of searches for air tickets to non-mainland destinations and hotels also reached a three-year peak, as revealed by a report by local media outlet Macao Daily News.
The tourism portal identified searches related to travel destinations that were popular among mainland tourists before the Covid-19 pandemic. In the order of popularity, the top ten most popular destinations were Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and the UK.
The report added that although the actual number of mainland residents who could conduct cross-border travel remained small, spending per head rose compared with pre-Covid times. Increases of 64% in air ticket sales and 40% in high-end hotel accommodation have been recorded.
Despite the promising results, Professor Samuel Tong Kai Chung, president of the Macau Institute of Management, does not expect a quick rebound in the tourism industry in the coming year, according to another report by the Macao Daily News.
While Tong foresees economic recovery next year, it will take time for the workforce to recover in various industries. Confidence to travel will also take time to recover.
Following Beijing loosening its Covid-19 restrictions and the subsequent relaxation of measures in Macau, Tong commentated that market confidence has started to improve. The confirmation of the six casino licenses will also bring confidence to investors.
Tong stated that travel for business and to visit friends and family was likely to resume the fastest, with leisure travel resuming later.
Travel will resume in younger generations first, with older adults to follow.
Based on these observations, Tong does not expect the local tourism market to see an immediate rebound, but rather, will gradually resume pre-Covid levels in 2024.
Moreover, Tong highlighted that various industries – in particular the tourism industry – will need time to get back on track in terms of resources and the workforce.
