New multiple entry visas with Hengqin to promote hotel occupancy out of Macau, MGTO says

MGTO’s Helena de Senna Fernandes welcomes first mainland tour group with multiple entries in Hengqin Port, yesterday

The new measure enforced today, with multiple entry visas to be issued to tour groups from the mainland to visit Hengqin and Macau, aims to promote greater hotel occupancy in Hengqin, the director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Maria Helena de Senna de Fernandes, said to the media on the sidelines of the event that celebrated the arrival of the first tour group to Macau under this new scheme.

“In recent history, or at least in the past four months, our hotels have been registering a high occupancy rate, so I believe that this is a way for us to use more of our hotels in Hengqin, expanding our tourism sources and providing for patrons, through combined itineraries, to stay for longer,” Senna Fernandes said. She noted that, while this measure, for the time being, only applies to tour groups from the mainland, work would be done to attract more foreign tourists to Hengqin.

The MGTO director noted that this was not the first time local authorities had collaborated with Hengqin.

“We did this even last week during the MITE (Macao International Travel Industry Expo). We organized some buyers’ groups to stay over in Hengqin and to host these activities in collaboration with Hengqin. This collaborative nature will continue.”

According to the MGTO director’s statement, the new visa measure completely overhauls the previous policies and direction of the local tourism industry. This industry, in the last few years, has chiefly aimed to extend the short stays of those visiting Macau, in the hope that visitors spend at least one night in the city. This serves to boost not only the hotel industry but other sectors as well, such as the food and beverage industry and other related services.

No cap on visitor entries

Asked about several other cities and popular tourism destinations enforcing a limit on the number of visiting tourists at any one time, Senna Fernandes said the government is not aiming to establish such practices in Macau.

“I believe that these measures are discriminatory. Macau is a tourism city, and it would not make sense to draw distinctions between those who can enter the city and those who cannot,” she said. However, she noted that establishing such a system would not at all be impossible, noting a previous attempt to restrict the number of visitors to Macau. Senna Fernandes claimed that attempt “did not yield good results.”

The idea of capping the number of visitors to ensure community safety, as well as the operationality of the city at several levels, including transportation and crowd control, has been on the agenda for several members of the public. Lawmakers have equally expressed wishes of restricting the free flow of visitors, arguing the city might become overcrowded, negatively impacting locals and Macau’s image.

Labor Day Golden Week figures ‘quite good’

On the same occasion, the director of MGTO commented on the results obtained during the Labor Day Golden Week that came to an end Sunday.

Senna Fernandes noted that although the number of visitors reached was slightly lower than the forecast (120,879 on daily average instead of 130,000), the result can be considered “quite good, taking into consideration the bad weather that affected not only Macau but the whole Guangdong province” during the five-day holiday.

First tour with multiple entry visas arrives

The first mainland tour group granted multiple entries to and from Macau and Hengqin via Hengqin Port arrived yesterday late morning.

Officials from the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) organized a welcoming reception for the group of 16 visitors from Guangdong province.

The MGTO noted this measure will expand the visitor market from the mainland to Macau and Hengqin, benefit the business of travel agencies and the activities of tour guides on both sides, as well as accelerate integrated development between both the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin and Macau’s tourism industry.

According to the MGTO, the group has a three-day and two-night itinerary, including several attractions in Macau and Hengqin. For the two-night stays, one night will be spent in a hotel unit in Macau, while the other night will be spent in Hengqin.