A tourist arrival count surpassing 40,000 on April 30 “surpasses […] predictions,” local tourism board chief Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said over the weekend.
In mainland China there is a public holiday period of five days’ duration for International Labor Day. The holidays commenced this year on April 30. On the first day, 41,584 tourists entered Macau.
The count is the highest daily number of arrivals so far this year.
Data from the Public Security Police Force shows that as of 9 p.m. last night, there were a total of 23,653 tourist arrivals.
The director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) said that with this tourist arrival count recorded for the opening of the long holiday in the mainland, the holiday has “started very well.” The tourism chief hoped that the momentum will be maintained, so as to bring buzz to Macau to boost economic revival.
Prior to the holiday, the MGTO director released an estimate for the average tourist arrivals during the holiday period of about 30,000 per day. On May 1, she lifted the expectation to 35,000.
Senna Fernandes revealed that the overall hotel booking rate during the May 1 holidays was about 40%. She highlighted that some hotels in Cotai would see a 60% booking rate.
According to the forecast, the weather will not be sunny and fine during the holiday period. Senna Fernandes hopes that this would not discourage nearby tourists from visiting the city.
Hoping to retain Guangdong Province as Macau’s principal source market, Senna Fernandes disclosed that a campaign aiming to promote Macau among the province’s residents is ready.
Open-deck vehicles will be used to tour the streets of six cities in the province to familiarize local residents with Macau and to attract them to the city. Tourists from Guangdong account for 60% of the current tourist arrivals.
Meanwhile, the Macao Week marketing roadshow series will be re-launched. Senna Fernandes said that once the Covid-19 situation on the mainland stabilizes, work on the campaign can commence.
