Ferry sailings to increase by May as HK tourist numbers rise

TurboJET is slated to increase its ferry sailings by May due to growing demand, as seen during the Easter holidays.

Alfred Ng, director of the Macao Services Division of Shun Tak China Travel Ship Management, said that the company aims to operate every 15 minutes from the Taipa Terminal, and every 30 minutes from the Inner Harbour, as cited in a report by Macao Daily.

Ng also said that the number of ferries operating has now recovered to half of pre-pandemic levels.

Chu Chan Wai, director of the port management department at the Marine and Water Bureau, said that during the past four-day Easter holiday, the average daily passenger volume on the Hong Kong and Macau maritime passenger routes was 26,000 to 27,000 passengers.

During the peak period, on the 7th of this month for example, the number of passengers was 28,000 people, the highest since the resumption of ferry sailings on January 8 this year.

Chu recalled that in 2019, the daily passenger volume of Hong Kong-Macau passenger routes was 33,000, while the current average daily passenger volume of Hong Kong-Macau routes is 13,000 to 14,000 passengers.

Meanwhile, a total of 145,657 ferry and bus rides were enjoyed with a special offer initiative, including over 100,000 ferry tickets and more than 45,000 bus tickets redeemed by Hong Kong tourists under the government’s buy-one-get-one free promotion.

In the first quarter of this year, the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) rolled out “Macao Treat,” offering Hong Kong residents a free return trip to the SAR.  Another advance special offer will ensue in the second phase from April to June, not just for Hong Kong residents but also for visitors from Taiwan region and international markets. Provisional figures indicate that Macau registered over 4.96 million visitor arrivals in the first quarter of 2023, including about 1.51 million Hong Kong visitors, a nearly tenfold surge year-on-year. LV