Tourist arrivals over 143,000 in first five days of holidays

The first five days of the Golden Week National Holiday recorded 143,102 tourist arrivals: figures the government has dubbed “gratifying.”

The first day of the holiday recorded the most, with up to 37,442 arrivals, nearly doubling the government’s expectations.

Last week, the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) estimated the seven-day holiday would attract 20,000 visitors daily, based on over 26,000 visitor arrivals last Friday.

Authorities suggested the figure was the highest number since the June 18 Covid-19 outbreak. 

Speaking yesterday at the TDM Forum, MGTO director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said the government is pleased with the tourist arrivals recorded this year as it is a surge of over 2,100% compared to last year’s numbers in terms of average daily arrivals.

Last year, official figures showed there were only 8,159 tourist arrivals recorded during the holiday, typically one of the city’s busiest times, a stunning decline of 94% compared to 2020 — and a disappointment for local retailers and the tourism sector generally.

Last week, the Macau Hotel Association told the Times the seven-day holidays had been looking stronger compared to previous holidays this year, such as the Mid-Autumn and the May Labor Day holidays, as it has been seeing arrivals during the holiday period rise at an accelerated pace in the past two weeks. 

This is despite the Zhuhai health authority calling mainland residents to celebrate the National Day at home and avoid going to medium-risk or high-risk areas.

The association previously observed the search traffic for Macau on main online travel agents (OTAs) had increased 130% over this National Holiday as compared to last year, particularly the traffic of October 1 to 3, which is double that of October 4 to 7.