Tourism chief hopes for daily tourist arrivals of 20,000 during Oct. 1 holidays

At a press event yesterday, a tourism official expressed his hope that the city will attract 20,000 visitors per day during the seven-day October 1 holidays in mainland China.

Cheng Wai Tong, deputy director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), made that remark based on the count of over 26,000 visitor arrivals last Friday. He emphasized that it was the highest number since the June 18 Covid-19 outbreak, and he voiced his hopes that the rising numbers will continue into the October 1 holidays. In fact, he said that he expects the daily tourist arrival count to reach as high as 25,000, with a total of 170,000 counts of people having visited Macau across the seven days.

The MGTO announced a series of events to be held during the holidays: the October 1 fireworks gala, new elements at the Macao Grand Prix Museum, community tourism drive and constant promotional campaigns for Macau.

In Singapore, according to various regional and international news outlets, hotel prices in July rose to a near-decade high. “Hotels [in Singapore] are getting a ‘flood of enquiries’ from overseas visitors and are seeing a ‘desperation’ for rooms,” Singaporean media CNA cited a tourism consultant, Christopher Khoo, as saying.

The city-state will also see the Formula 1 Grand Prix’s (GP) main race returning on October 2, with a list of world-class entertainment, which includes concerts featuring Westlife, Green Day, Black Eyed Peas and Suede, surrounding the race.

From August 29, Singapore lifted the quarantine upon arrival requirement for all entrants regardless of their vaccination status.

At the same time, Macau’s Sports Bureau president, Pun Weng Kun, recently disclosed that his team is trying to bring the Motorcycle GP back to the Guia Circuit after years of suspension due to border restrictions.

However, an online racing media out reported that several major motorcycle racers did not find the invitation appealing based on current quarantine requirements. As the report pointed out, big names such as John McGuinness and Michael Rutter were not interested in the lengthy quarantine required upon arrival in Macau.

Pun also disclosed that the chances for seeing the F3 World Cup and the GT World Cup in Macau this year are non-existent.

Yesterday also saw a local health official discouraging local people from visiting “risky areas” when they travel during the October 1 and Chung Yeung Festival holidays.

Lei Pui I, chief of service at the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), emphasized that locals should be mindful of the Covid-19 pandemic when they plan their trips, and suggested they avoid visiting areas with risks of Covid-19 transmission.

People returning from trips should seek medical advice and disclose their travel history if they develop symptoms.

Across this period, the health department will also stay vigilant and conduct temperature check and health code inspections on entrants to Macau.