The Public Security Police (PSP) announced in a statement on Tuesday, that Macau had reached 20 million visitor arrivals earlier that day, 26 days earlier than last year.
According to the statement, as of 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Macau’s visitor arrivals had surpassed 20 million, averaging 106,000 daily – reaching the milestone 26 days earlier than last year’s 20 million threshold achieved on August 3.
The statement pointed out that the share of travellers from the Chinese mainland reached 71.6 percent, followed by travellers from Hong Kong, who accounted for 19.1 percent; foreign travellers made up 6.9 percent, while travellers from China’s Taiwan region represented 2.4 percent.
According to the statement, around 41 percent of the visitors arrived in Macau through the Barrier Gate checkpoint, followed by the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) checkpoint, at 24.1 percent and the Hengqin-Macau checkpoint, at 13.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) said in a statement on July 3 that its large-scale cultural and tourism event “POP MART MACAO CITYWALK” (與POP MART漫遊澳門) drew around 153,000 people to its installations set up across the city between June 6 and June 28, while participation in its consumption carnival’s lucky draw reached 620,000 in its first phase.
According to previous media reports, Macau’s 2025 tourism strategy features three major initiatives: the ongoing POP MART collaboration, the Sanrio-character “Flora Fête” (夢幻花園) that drew 260,000 visitors to its northern district plot within three months, and the “Enchanting Macao” (星動澳門) campaign leveraging 200 TikTok influencers who say that they have 300 million followers.
The government’s strategic partnerships with major IPs like POP MART have become a significant driver in boosting Macau’s tourist arrivals, according to observers.
The Public Security Police forecast an increase in the number of visitor arrivals during the summer holiday period and have enhanced coordination with the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong immigration authorities to ensure border security, yesterday’s statement said.
Last year, Macau recorded 34.9 million visitor arrivals, a year-on-year growth of 23.8 percent, according to official statistics. In pre-pandemic 2019, Macau’s visitor arrival figure reached 39.4 million, the highest on record. The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected the local tourism sector between early 2020 and late 2022.
Visitors pose in front of a POP MART installation at Macau’s main square, Largo do Senado, last night. – Photo: Armindo Neves
