Golden Week crowds fill Macau as arrivals reach over 780,000

Macau welcomed more than 783,000 visitors during the mainland’s National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, which coincided with the weekend. Authorities say annual visitor arrivals remain on track to hit 39 million.

The mainland’s so-called “Golden Week” break, an eight-day event running through Wednesday, welcomed approximately 139,000 inbound travelers on its first day last Wednesday. Most arrivals came through the Border Gate, followed by Hengqin Port and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge checkpoint.

The Public Security Police Force (PSP) had previously projected that the holiday period would result in 5.6 to 6 million border crossings, averaging 700,000 to 750,000 daily, with around 1.2 million visitors expected in Macau, averaging 150,000 per day.

On the first day of Golden Week, Macau recorded over 673,000 border crossings, with more than 265,000 involving inbound and outbound travelers; however, the visitor count of 139,000 fell short of the authorities’ projected peak before increasing to approximately 164,000 the following day.

The day after National Day saw a massive influx of tourists, with crowds overwhelming attractions across multiple districts.

For the third consecutive day, police implemented crowd control measures, enforcing one-way flow at the Ruins of St. Paul’s area.

Notably, on Saturday – the fourth day of the holiday – crowd control was implemented twice, with officials stating, “Rua de S. Paulo is extremely crowded.”

Pedestrians were allowed to ascend toward Rua de S. Paulo in one direction only, while exits were directed through surrounding streets and alleys, including Calçada do Amparo, Rua de Nossa Senhora do Amparo, and Rua de D. Belchior Carneiro.

Additionally, vehicles were prohibited from turning left from Rua de D. Belchior Carneiro onto Calçada de S. Francisco Xavier, with these restrictions lasting up to two hours.

According to PSP records, the influx of tourists has been steadily increasing since Tuesday. On the day after National Day, Macau recorded 735,000 border crossings, with approximately 319,000 tourists, including 164,000 inbound visitors.

The third day saw an increase to 787,000 crossings, with tourists accounting for 364,000, including 182,000 inbound. On the fourth day, total crossings reached 821,000, with visitors making up 384,000, of which about 191,000 were inbound tourists, all primarily entering through the Border Gate.

The Gongbei Customs reported that on the first four days of the eight-day holiday period, Gongbei Port recorded over 1.57 million passenger entries and exits. The average daily passenger volume reached 390,000, marking an 8.3% increase compared to the same period last year.

However, possibly due to the impact of the typhoon, passenger numbers declined yesterday. According to PSP figures, as of 9 p.m., there were only 106,650 tourists recorded out of a total of 245,508 inbound arrivals.

Tourist arrivals projected to reach 39 million by year-end

This year, inbound tourist arrivals in Macau have already exceeded 30 million. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), has projected that the total number of visitors could reach 39 million by year-end.

Speaking to the media on Saturday at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, the tourism chief updated reporters on the free bus and ferry ticket offer for foreign visitors arriving in Macau via Hong Kong from May 1 to December 31 this year.

She reported that as of August 31, 150,000 visitors had taken advantage of the offer, with 27% of them being young travelers aged 25 to 34. In terms of regional distribution, over 90% – approximately 137,000 – were Asian travelers, while more than 5,000 were from Europe and over 4,000 from North America.

Stating that plans are also underway to explore the Central Asian source market, Senna Fernandes noted that promotional efforts in the Middle East commenced earlier this year.

She remarked, “With mainland travelers accelerating their recovery amid various Chinese policy relaxations, we are prioritizing the promotion of international visitors. In addition to collaborating with airlines in Macau and Hong Kong, we are partnering with foreign travel sales platforms to expand our international customer base through diverse channels.”

As visitors flock to Macau for the holiday, local residents are also opting to “go north.” A report by the Macau Daily News last weekrevealed that the reservation system for Macau vehicles heading north during this year’s National Day Golden Week, from October 1 to 7, has reached full capacity, with all 2,000 daily slots booked.