Tourism | Fear of too many visitors unites lawmakers

Lawmakers at the Legislative Assembly expressed concerns over the record number of visitors registered during the latest Lunar New Year Golden Week, which broke the 1.2 million mark.

The first of the legislators expressing concern was Leong Sun Iok, who noted that while the government regularly celebrates record- breaking figures, “several border checkpoints, namely the Border Gate, and some tourist landmarks had to be subject, for several days, to crowd control measures.”

“Given the high number of tourists, which has increased significantly, some residents say the city is doomed to explode,” said Leong, while urging the government to pursue measures that would ease the “pressure on residents.”

For example, Leong suggested “attracting tourists of high consumption” and enforcing “pedestrian-only areas during the Golden Week.” The government might also consider promoting attractions in Cotai that would relieve the pressure on popular spots of central Macau.

Following on from Leong’s remarks was Song Pek Kei, who called for a “balanced solution for tourism.”

According to Song, if “it is true that the large number of tourists has brought us economic development and an increase in financial income,” it is also true that “infrastructure and resources are lacking, and too many tourists and the rapid development of the sector will result in unbalanced social development, giving rise to strong contradictions between the demand for more tourists and the life of the population.”

Kou Hoi In and Ip Sio Kai signed a joint enquiry criticizing tourism policies and measures applied to tackle the problem of overcrowded tourist attractions.

“As in the past, the government has deployed more police to maintain order and control the crowds [in the central area, Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro and Saint Paul’s Ruins]. The tourists in these areas were pushed to follow the crowd by the same path, as if they were a flock of ducks,” it said.

“These control measures are effective at dispersing people, but they reduce the freedom of tourists. They cannot stop to take photographs or make purchases – they can only follow the people in front of them, which results in a bad experience.”

The lawmakers also highlighted the growing dissatisfaction among residents saying, “too many tourists on public roads seriously affects the commute of residents, who complain that every day on their way home, they have to fight ‘hand-to-hand’ with tourists.”

Lawmaker Chan Hong adopted a different approach to the topic, urging the government to incentivize shop owners, namely in the surroundings of tourism areas, to keep their establishments open during the holiday season.

“Most of the tourists concentrate in the casinos, Almeida Ribeiro and the Ruins of St Paul’s, which shows that the flow of people was not effectively diverted to other old areas,” she said.

“The surrounding areas were quiet, and even if there were tourists, the shops were closed. At Rua da Felicidade, the closure of many stores during the Chinese New Year contributed to an even further degradation of the environment, reducing tourists’ willingness to visit these areas.”

Chan also suggested the government to continue with the renovation of public areas in addition to remodeling the façades of buildings in the old quarters and in the world heritage areas,” improving in this way the image of the city as a tourism destination.