Two Sessions | CE suggests Macau deserves more mainland tourists

In an interview with Chinese state media agency China New Service, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has cited Macau’s performance in containing Covid-19 and suggested that Macau deserves more mainland Chinese tourists.
Sharing the same view are the Macau representatives at the National People’s Congress (NPC), which is having its annual plenary session in Beijing. Comparatively, they are asking mainland authorities to resume online applications for travel endorsement to Macau.
They founded the proposal upon Macau’s success in containing the spread of the pandemic.
The 12 Macau delegates pointed out that some of the key problems discouraging mainland tourists from visiting Macau are the inconvenience of applying for the endorsement.
Besides, mainland airports consider arrivals from Macau to be coming from riskier areas. Mainland tourists returning home will, therefor, experience the process as time-consuming.
Furthermore, the duty waiver amount for entrants from Macau to the mainland needs to be updated to attract more mainland shoppers in Macau, the representatives said. For instance, the NPC representatives pointed out that the duty waiver level currently in place is from a decade ago. They cited Hainan Province, which has had its waiver level eased, to show the same should be done for Macau, as it is a Special Administrative Region. AL