Tourism sector in a strong state, says MGTO chief

Tourism chief, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, characterized the mainland’s nine-day Spring Festival holiday as “prosperous in both people and wealth,” noting that daily inbound visitors exceeded 100,000 and reaffirmed that the city’s tourism sector is currently experiencing a relatively strong period.

“Overall, the tourism industry this year has been in a relatively robust phase since the start of the New Year,” she stated, emphasizing the strong recovery in tourism. During the nine-day Lunar New Year period, i.e., from February 14 to 22, average hotel occupancy rates reached 95%, with some days even hitting 98%,” she told the press.

“Post-holiday, hotel occupancy rates continue to remain between 80% and 90%, even on weekdays,” she added.

With over 1.5 million visitor arrivals to Macau, the average daily passenger flow has exceeded 2019 levels. Senna Fernandes characterized the figures as “exceptionally impressive,” noting that the tourism industry and businesses experienced a “prosperous and thriving” Chinese New Year period.

The drone fireworks display, which debuted on the evening of the third day of the Lunar New Year on February 19, will return to the waters off Macau Tower during the upcoming Lantern Festival on Tuesday, March 3, as announced by the director of the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO).

She noted that this innovative fusion of drones and fireworks features a formation of 3,888 drones synchronized with music and laser effects, showcased in 15-minute intervals, and has received positive feedback.

Meanwhile, a legislator recently noted during a media interview that previous community intellectual property (IP) events, although successful in attracting large crowds of card collectors, resulted in limited local spending.

Legislator Kevin Ho proposed distributing spending vouchers to tourists, organizing events, and developing major attractions to encourage visitors to engage with local communities, thereby generating economic benefits.

In an interview about planning activities across the city’s six revitalization districts, Ho – who is also vice president of the Macau Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Industry and Commerce Association of Macau – expressed his hope that the relevant district development center should coordinate overall planning to foster inter-district collaboration. He advocated organizing unique activities tailored to each district’s specific characteristics and repurposing idle land for open-air cafes, sports facilities, and similar uses to attract foot traffic and revitalize surrounding neighborhoods.