Golden Week starts strong with 5.4 million crossings expected

[Photo: Yuki Lei]

Macau’s border crossings are on track to reach around 5.4 million during the seven-day National Day holiday, the public security police force (PSP) said. Visitor arrivals in the first three days alone totaled 540,549, up 12% to 27% year over year.

The PSP had earlier projected 5.2 to 5.4 million border crossings across all checkpoints during the holiday spanning October 1 to 7, or about 740,000 to 770,000 per day, with the peak expected over the weekend of October 3 and 4, when single-day crossings could exceed 800,000.

Preliminary figures show 750,000 visitor arrivals during the first four days of the National Day Golden Week (Oct. 1 to 4), averaging 187,000 per day, up 32% year-over-year, with 210,000 arrivals on Sunday (Oct. 4) alone, up 10% year-over-year.

Mainland visitors totaled 650,000 over the same period, averaging 162,000 per day, up 40% year over year, while Hong Kong visitors reached 70,000, averaging more than 17,000 per day, up 9.8%.

Even after the weekend, visitor traffic remained strong. As of 5 p.m. yesterday, inbound visitor arrivals across all checkpoints totaled 148,014, with the largest share (73,573) recorded at the Border Gate.

During the same period, Hengqin Port recorded its highest single-day passenger flow since operations began, with inbound and outbound traffic surpassing 150,000 for the first time on Sunday (Oct. 4), up 20% year over year.

Large-scale events, including the Macau International Fireworks Display Contest, reportedly drew crowds to Macau, authorities at the Port said yesterday.

Mainland residents entering and leaving through the Port with tourist endorsements reached 74,000, up more than 24% year over year, while Hong Kong and Macau residents totaled over 38,000, up more than 32% and accounting for about 25.4% of total traffic.