The Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) announced in a statement yesterday that more than 17,000 visitors entered Macau on Saturday, the highest daily number since the resumption of the quarantine-free travel arrangement between Macau and Zhuhai on August 3.
According to the statement, 81,798 visitor arrivals were recorded from August 12 to last Thursday, a daily average of 11,685, representing an increase of 56 percent compared to the daily average of 7,490 visitors between August 5 and August 11, and an increase of 3,609.5 percent compared to the daily average of 315 visitor arrivals last month.
Starting yesterday, non-resident foreigners, i.e., non-residents of the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, who meet other conditions for border crossing, will no longer be required to first obtain authorisation from the Health Bureau (SSM) before entering Macau via the mainland, the statement noted, adding that in the wake of the further easing of Macau’s entry conditions, MGTO will reinforce its tourism promotion campaign.
The statement pointed out that in response to the “basically” stable situation of COVID-19 in Macau, MGTO is continuing to post a raft of short videos and messages on online social platforms where it has official accounts, such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin (TikTok) and Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book). At the same time, MGTO has also strengthened cooperation with e-commerce platforms and online travel agencies (OTAs) to launch monthly promotion activities, including providing special travel offers such as hotel and flight ticket coupons and carrying out “precision-marketing” initiatives to target key groups, themed “Feel Macao, Without Limits”, the statement added.
The statement said that in order to further enhance the promotion of the Macau tourism experience, MGTO will film some “lucky” visitors and produce short videos about their itineraries, adding that MGTO will present the finished version to the fortunate tourists.
Various government entities, together with business organisations and chambers of commerce have joined forces to hold this year’s first “Macao Week in Qingdao·Shandong”, from September 8-12, the statement noted.
Moreover, the statement added, MGTO will visit nine mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) together with Macau tourism and leisure companies, mainland e-commerce platforms and OTAs, for their travelling promotion “Feel Macao, Without Limits” using caravans as promotional vehicles.
GBA comprises nine cities in Guangdong province as well as the nation’s two special administrative regions – Hong Kong and Macau.
MGTO underlined that it is closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation, actively cooperating with the relevant guidelines issued by the Health Bureau (SSM), timely adjusting the arrangement of its activities and publicity plans, and continuously promoting Macau through various channels to attract more tourists and promote the recovery of Macau’s battered tourism industry.
This undated handout photo provided by the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) yesterday shows tourists exploring Rua do Cunha in Taipa.
