Tourism | HKZMB behind double-digit surge in visitor arrivals

Macau’s tourism chief has accredited 2019’s double-digit surge in visitor arrivals to the impact of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HKZMB). Preparing to mark its first anniversary later this month, the year-on-year growth in visitor arrivals is expected to moderate as early as next month.
The 55-kilometer long bridge-tunnel hybrid structure, incurring a total of RMB127 billion in construction costs, was officially opened on October 24 last year. The novelty of the bridge’s opening attracted an influx of visitors to Macau in the first few months.
Year-on-year visitor growth tallied over 20% during the first six months of the year, appearing to slow only in the third quarter of 2019.
The growth fueled concerns of overtourism after the city was projected to breach the 40-million level, previously earmarked as the city’s maximum capacity.
Macau’s tourism institute determined earlier this year that the city is capable of comfortably handling 110,000 visitors per day, or 40 million per year.
Over the weekend, the director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Helena de Senna Fernandes confirmed to the media that Macau is expected to receive 40 million visitors – or close to that figure – by the end of the year. The revised projection follows the 38-million estimate made during the second quarter and is based on the popularity of the year-old bridge.
The tourism chief said that the year-on-year comparisons will become possible starting next month and so the visitor growth should slow considerably.
The prediction comes as recent data shows a slowdown in arrivals using the HKZMB. In July, there were approximately 553,000 visitors who arrived in Macau using the bridge, while just 448,000 bridge users a month later.
The Times inquired yesterday whether the tourism growth is expected to extend into 2020, but Senna Fernandes said it was too early to tell.
“There are lots of factors to consider – [such as] how the trade war will pan out, how the situation in Hong Kong develops, and [the effectiveness of] other works to promote tourism in the Greater Bay Area. There are a few things we are still considering, so we haven’t made our predictions for next year,” said Senna Fernandes.
“We cannot expect tourism to be growing all the time, so there will be times with adverse factors and we need to prepare ourselves for any situation.” DB/AL