Lawmaker calls for measures against overload of tourists

Tourists attend a Light Festival event this week

Lawmaker Lam Lon Wai has asked the government to implement measures to deal with the overload of tourists.

In his written inquiry to the local government, Lam pointed out that a 9.1 percent growth in the number of tourists during the first 11 months of 2018 has been recorded, and that the Public Security Police Force has also predicted a new record of crossings for the upcoming Chinese New Year.

“[The number of crossings] has posed several kinds of pressure across all Macau’s ports, and transportation and tourism networks. […] The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is unable to distribute the human flow around the border gate. Indeed, on the contrary, it [the bridge] has increased the number of crossings at the border gate and, in turn, has deteriorated the transportation situation in the northern district,” Lam wrote in his inquiry.

“Faced with this overload of tourists, what measures does the authority have to ensure the residents’ normal life and the tourists’ tourism experience? What mandatory or encouraging measures does the authority have aiming at diverting the tourists and the tourism industry to use other ports [rather than the border gate] to reduce pressure across the border gate?” Lam asked.

According to PSP statistics, a total of 575,000 crossings were recorded on Christmas Day. Of those, 390,000 were recorded from the border gate, 60,500 of which were from HKZMB. Of the latter, 43,000 were from the outer harbor ferry terminal.

As of 5 p.m. on Christmas Day, a total of 347,000 crossings were recorded. Some 314,000 crossings were registered during the same period (until 5 p.m.) on Christmas Day, 2017.

The PSP also reported that 42 taxi overcharging infractions were recorded on December 24 and 25.