A beach tent at Hac Sa
Exorbitant hotel prices have forced tourists to turn to campsites at the Hac Sa beach for accommodation, with strategies for securing spaces now appearing on mainland websites, Macao Daily has reported.
The Chinese media outlet reported that the registry there at the camping ground, which accommodates 108 campsites at most, saw 50-people-long queues last Saturday, when three firework displays were slated for the night.
Aside from the zone C, which is earmarked for locals, zones A and B offer 72 campsites, together with the over 100 temporary campsites, and were said to be crammed with campers.
The news outlet claimed that among the crowd were large numbers of tourists who had allegedly been dropped at the campsite by fleets of coaches, and these people have paid for their space in advance. The outlet estimated that up to 400 occupants have set up their tents there.
However, Wu Keng Kuong, president of the Association of Macau Tourist Agents, downplayed the rumors that some local travel agencies may have offered more affordable prices to their clients for the campsites. He thought it may have been other illegal groups touting this kind of accommodation on the Internet.
Macau Government Tourist Office also brushed aside such allegations in its reply to the media outlet, stressing that their inspectors, who were deployed for patrols at different tourist spots, found no similar practices.
Roy Lam, Vice President of the Choi In Tong Sam Association, believed that the surge in visitors to the camping ground would one day reach saturation, which could negatively impact the city’s reputation if left unaddressed. He urged the authorities to adjust the fares for tourists before it became out of control.
Advance booking for the 36 campsites in zone C of the camping ground is available only for locals, while campers from outside the territory must apply onsite on a first-come, first-served basis. Each space for individual use costs users MOP5 per night.
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