Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said yesterday her target was for Macau to welcome 33 million visitors this year.
Speaking to the media after yesterday’s press conference at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre about the upcoming “Celebrations of the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Macau SAR – Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Dragon 2024”, Senna Fernandes said: “A target to welcome about 33 million visitor arrivals has been set for this year…[MTGO] will continue to pay close attention to the quality of Macau’s tourism services.”
The Year of the Dragon begins on February 10.
Senna Fernandes pointed out that since the beginning of this year the average number of daily visitor arrivals has been about 80,000, with the average number recorded over weekends having even exceeded 100,000. Senna Fernandes said the numbers indicated that the tourism industry’s situation was “stable”.
Senna Fernandes underlined that Macau received over 28 million visitor arrivals last year, reaching 72 percent of the pre-pandemic level in 2019. She added that “the number of visitors from Hong Kong last year almost returned to the pre-pandemic level, and we hope that it will even exceed 2019’s number this year.” She pointed out that Hong Kong was a transit point between Macau and foreign countries.
According to official statistics, Macau logged a record 39.4 million visitor arrivals in 2019. This year’s MGTO target of 33 million would mean reaching about 84 percent of the record total achieved in 2019. Macau confirmed its first COVID-19 case in January 2020. The pandemic affected Macau’s tourism industry for three years.
Macau’s veteran tourism chief acknowledged that the number of foreign tourist arrivals would not immediately rebound to pre-pandemic levels, due to the fact that the global airline industry is still recovering from the three-year COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week, Senna Fernandes told reporters that MGTO was targeting a baseline target of 3 million foreign tourist arrivals this year.
In terms of this year’s work plan, MGTO will hold roadshows in Thailand and Malaysia in the first half of this year, Senna Fernandes said, adding: “The main focus of [the MGTO promotion campaign] this year will be in the Northeast and Southeast Asia countries, but we are also carrying out a course of work in targeting the European market, such as to participate in future travel expos in Spain and Portugal.” She also said that MGTO was planning to invite European travel agency associations to join this year’s Macau International Travel (Industry) Expo, apart from just inviting Portuguese travel agency associations.
Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes speaks to reporters after yesterday’s press conference about the upcoming “Celebrations of the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Macau SAR – Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Dragon 2024”, at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre. – Photo: Yuki Lei
