The first sailing of Macau-Zhuhai’s Guishan Island ferry link, operated by the local-based Yuet Tung Shipping Company Limited, departed from the Taipa Ferry Terminal in Pac On at 10:10 a.m. on Saturday, with 120 passengers.
A kick-off ceremony for the ferry link was held at 9 a.m. on the same day.
Marine and Water Bureau (DSAMA) Director Susana Wong Soi Man said in a speech during the ceremony that the opening of the island ferry route aims to benefit the joint development of Zhuhai and Macau, deepen the cooperation between the two cities, facilitate people movement between the two places, while also further promoting the two regions’ economic development. She added that the ferry route is a new attempt at the complimentary development of the maritime passenger transport industry, with the competition and challenges brought about by the continuous development of land transportation.
Wong also said she expected that the government will continue to encourage shipping companies to explore more local or cross-border ferry routes, especially those connecting cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA), so as to provide residents and tourists with more diversified travel options.
During the ceremony, Zhuhai Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau Director Yan Weimin encouraged Macau’s tourism enterprises and institutions to conduct in-depth research and participate in the development, construction, operation and management of leisure, marine sports, tourist towns and tourist attractions on Zhuhai’s islands.
The services, provided by high-speed passenger catamarans, sail every Saturday and Sunday, with two round-trip voyages each day.
Ferries to Guishan Island to increase depending on public need: MGTO vice-chief
Meanwhile, Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Deputy Director Cheng Wai Tong told reporters after the ceremony that MGTO is committed to the development and planning of island tourism projects, pointing out that the tourism resources of Guishan Island and Dongao Island in Zhuhai are “relatively mature”.
In light of the response after this sailing, according to Cheng, MGTO will review whether there is a need to increase the number of ferries to Guishan Island, and will gradually promote tourists visiting Macau to travel to the island in the future, so as to diversify the overall tourism resources and products in Macau.
Meanwhile, the shipping company arranged for reporters to experience a one-day trip to Guishan Island, where they visited a number of the attractions, including Wen Tianxiang Cultural Square and Dolphin Bay Beach, in a sightseeing vehicle after the 40-minute ferry ride.
A local islander told reporters during the trip that there are about 3,000 people living on the 5.23 square-kilometre-island, of whom 600 to 700 are natives, adding that there is a primary school with about 70 students.
Meanwhile, Macau Tourist Guide Association President Wu Wai Fong told The Macau Post Daily via WeChat on Saturday that although visas are still required for international visitors to Zhuhai, she said that the tourism sector was looking forward to obtaining 144-hour visa-free travel for foreigners from Macau to Zhuhai, facilitating their travel between the two places.
Guishan Island lies some 30 kilometre east of Macau.
This photo taken on Saturday morning shows a ferry about to depart from Taipa Ferry Terminal in Pac On en route to Guishan Island in Zhuhai. – Photos: Yuki Lei
This photo taken during Saturday’s one-day sightseeing trip shows one of the island’s tourist attractions – Wen Tianxiang Cultural Square – on Zhuhai’s Guishan Island.
