Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said yesterday that the number of visitors to Macau has “significantly” increased since the validity of the negative nucleic acid test (NAT) result for those travelling between Guangdong and Macau was returned to seven days from just 48 hours on Saturday.
Senna Fernandes made the remarks while speaking to reporters at the Venetian casino-hotel resort where the three-day 9th Macau International Travel (Industry) Expo (MITE), which ended yesterday, was being held.
The negative NAT result for those travelling between the two regions had been valid for only 48 hours since early last month when the two governments tightened the NAT validity from the previous time of seven days.
The Guangdong and Macau governments had decided to fully return the NAT validity for those travelling between the two regions to seven days, which took effect on Saturday, considering that the COVID-19 threat to Macau from the neighbouring region has decreased. The relaxation is applicable to all those travelling between the two places, regardless of whether they have been inoculated against COVID-19, considering that not all age groups are covered by the Macau government’s COVID-19 vaccination drive.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Senna Fernandes said that on the first day of the NAT validity returning to the seven days – i.e. Saturday, the number of visitors to Macau had “significantly” increased by several thousand from previous days when the average daily number of visitors stood at around 20,000.
Senna Fernandes pledged that the government would constantly monitor the recovery of the number of visitors to Macau, expecting the average daily number to return to around 30,000 that had been recorded in May, later during the ongoing summer holiday.
The mainland has been the biggest source of visitors to Macau for years, but its share of Macau’s visitor arrivals has risen to around 90 percent since last year due to Macau’s entry ban on foreign visitors and its strict border entry curbs on Hong Kong and Taiwan compatriots.
Since the pandemic, Macau has reported a small number of visitors from Hong Kong and Taiwan every month, despite the fact that they are subject to the Macau government’s mandatory hotel quarantine requirement.
Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes talks to reporters at the Venetian Macao resort in Cotai yesterday. Photo courtesy of TDM
