More arrivals expected from mainland China during New Year, CNY holiday

Macau is likely to welcome a further surge in arrivals into the city from mainland China during the New Year holiday, according to the latest travel data published by China’s online travel agency (OTA) Trip.com.

The operator revealed that Macau is now a more sought-after city destination among holidaymakers from the mainland during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The trend is reflected in Macau’s hotel booking number made on Trip.com, which bounced by 451% during New Year holiday from December 31 to January 3, month-over-month. Meanwhile, the booking volumes for air tickets to Macau also surged 229% during the same period. 

The OTA forecasts that travelers from Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Xiamen will contribute the greatest share of tourists to Macau during the New Year holiday. 

Due to the travel restrictions still imposed in most countries, mainland travelers have channeled their travel focus from oversesas to domestic destinations. The OTA registered a 320% uptick in the popularity index of in-depth tours to the nation’s destinations. 

A study published earlier by McKinsey & Company, an America-based management and consulting company, also echoes Trip.com’s statistics. It indicated that the demand for domestic travel among China’s travelers is “approaching pre-pandemic levels,” with its hotel occupancy rate and the number of domestic flight passengers already at 90% of 2019 levels by August.

The recent Christmas period was a testament to the city’s ongoing tourism recovery. Macau registered an average daily visitor arrivals of 24,503 from December 23 to 27, up 20.2% and 30.5% from 20,385 and 18,774 in December 1 to 22 and October, respectively. There were 22,826 mainland visitors per day, on average, in the Christmas period. 

On December 25, Macau saw 27,755 visitors, the second highest daily visitor number, just after the 28,000 visitor arrivals recorded on the first day of the Macau Grand Prix on November 20. 

The occupancy rate of local hotels reached 69.4% between December 23 and 27, up 22.5% from December 1 to 22. 

Some travel experts also expect tourist arrivals to gain further momentum in the Lunar New Year holiday in February, provided that Covid-19 is kept under check in China. New Covid-19 cases were recently reported in Beijing, Inner Mongolia, and Liaoning provinces, among others. Staff Reporter