Yacht travel scheme gathered minimal interest

The Coloane berth was revamped under the new scheme

The recently-launched individual visa scheme for yacht travel between Macau to Zhongshan, launched by the government in cooperation with mainland authorities, is underperforming and has failed to attract much interest.

At the Macao Water customer liaison group meeting on Tuesday, director of the Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA), Susana Wong, revealed that the highly promoted scheme was only used by seven yachts over the past five months. The scheme was intended to be introduced as a new option to promote Macau’s tourist diversification.

The director of DSAMA explained that the reason given for the project’s lackluster performance is that the customs and docking fees are too high, which discourages travelers.

“Only one or two applications have been received so far. The problem is that the deposit [fee] for local yachts to enter Zhongshan is too high. Also the parking and customs fees are quite expensive,” said Wong to TDM.

However, while Wong acknowledged that the scheme was currently underutilized, Wong said she is working together with mainland authorities to reduce the costs of the plan in order to attract more interest from people. So far, no local yachts have undertaken any trip in the opposite direction.

The plan was finally launched in November last year, and had already suffered a delay of almost one year due to the need for work to be completed in the docking point at Zhingshan’s Keppel Cove.

In order to implement the yacht sailing project the MSAR government built 120 berth points in both Coloane and Fisherman’s Wharf area in addition to two immigration control check-points in each location.

A transfer ferry was also put in place at the Coloane berthing point to be used as transfer boat from the yacht berthing point to the Coloane Village Pear checkpoint. RM