Lawmaker wants to expand visitor sources from Australia and New Zealand

Lawmaker Chan Hao Weng called on the government to make greater efforts to expand visitor sources from Australia and New Zealand during an inquiry at the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday evening.

Responding to the call, Lo Chi Fai, head of the Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance, noted that while there are currently no direct air routes between Macau and those destinations, the government is promoting Macau to potential visitors through partnerships.

Lo highlighted various measures implemented by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) to encourage visitors arriving in Hong Kong to visit Macau, including free transportation and other incentives.

The official also noted that “in collaboration with several major online travel platforms, tourism promotions for Macau are being carried out, offering discounts on hotel reservations to target groups in long-haul international markets, including Australia.”

Lo added that MGTO is stepping up efforts to promote more English-language content about Macau, which would better support marketing efforts in those markets.

“In the future, the Macau SAR Government will continue to create favorable conditions to attract international visitors, including those from Australia and New Zealand. Through a variety of services and support measures, visitor flows to local neighborhoods will be further expanded, and consumption in these neighborhoods will be stimulated,” Lo said.

In his inquiry, Chan said that “Australia and New Zealand offer great potential, and we have numerous natural advantages for cooperating,” noting that the two countries represent a combined market of 32 million people. He also cited their geographic proximity to Macau compared with more distant markets such as Europe and the United States.

Chan said residents of the two countries have strong purchasing power and could serve as an alternative source of long-haul visitors, as a direct flight would take about nine to 10 hours to reach Macau – roughly half the travel time from Europe.

According to official statistics from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), 73,421 Australians and 13,964 New Zealanders visited Macau in 2025, representing year-over-year increases of 19.9% and 26.4%, respectively.

The statistics refer to entries by Australian and New Zealand passport holders and do not take into account their points of origin before arriving in Macau.