Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said yesterday that the local government’s new “10+7” COVID-19 measure, i.e., 10 days of hotel quarantine plus seven days of self-health monitoring, for those arriving in Macau from Hong Kong, Taiwan or foreign countries will not be conducive to an increase in the number of visitor arrivals.
The tourism chief noted that travellers will still need to remain in a hotel guestroom for 10 days before they can commence travelling around the city, adding she did not believe that tourists in general are willing to undergo quarantine for such a long time.
The new “10+7” arrangement starts today. The hotel quarantine for arrivals from Hong Kong, Taiwan and foreign countries had hitherto lasted 14 days.
Senna Fernandes made the remarks while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on the “Integration and Innovative Development of the Culture and Tourism Industry in Hengqin and Macau”, organised by the Macau Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM), on its Mong Ha campus.
Senna Fernandes said that the government will closely monitor whether the new “10+7” measure will possibly raise the number of arrivals who are required to undergo hotel quarantine, with the aim of enabling it to increase the number of quarantine hotels available in a timely manner.
Currently, the city has five quarantine hotels for travellers to undergo COVID-19 medical observation upon arrival here.
Senna Fernandes said that with the operation of Sheraton Grand in Cotai as a quarantine hotel, which opened early this month, the number of quarantine hotel guestrooms in the city is expected to continue to be enough to accommodate arrivals for quite a while in the near future.
After saying that the “10+7” arrangement was not expected to be helpful in raising the number of visitor arrivals, Senna Fernandes was quick to add that the new measure could benefit local residents returning to Macau and other travellers who need to come here for important matters.
Reporters asked Senna Fernandes whether neighbouring regions’ ongoing relaxations of entry curbs on visitors would undermine Macau’s competitiveness in the tourism industry. She replied that the Macau government needed to ensure the protection of residents against COVID-19, adding that the Health Bureau needed to gradually relax COVID-19 measures for arrivals in a cautious manner.
Furthermore, Senna Fernandes noted, only if Macau continues to carry out its COVID-19 measures in conjunction with the mainland can the quarantine-free travel arrangements between Macau and the mainland be maintained.
Senna Fernandes underlined that Macau cannot open its borders to tourists in a hasty manner, adding that only a cautious and gradual relaxation can reassure local residents. She stressed that only a responsible, gradual and careful approach towards opening Macau’s borders to visitors can maintain Macau’s image as a COVID-19 safe destination.
Thanks to the local government’s decision to follow the central government’s dynamic zero COVID strategy, Macau is one of the world’s nine countries and territories with zero novel coronavirus fatalities, among 228 that have been affected by the pandemic.
Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes talks to reporters on the Macau Institute for Tourism Studies’ (IFTM) main campus in Mong Ha. – Photo courtesy of TDM
