Sixteen of the 29 hotels and guesthouses that had closed their doors in response to the COVID-19 threat have reopened, Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) official Ines Chan Lou said today.
Chan announced the figure at the daily press conference of the Novel Coronavirus and Coordination Centre about the latest developments in the fight against the highly infectious disease.
Chan said that the reopening involved more than 2,000 guestrooms.
The hotels and guesthouses had been closed since early or the middle of this month due to a lack of guests and personnel. Migrant workers from the mainland, the Philippines and elsewhere make up a large part of the hotel sector's workforce. The government has imposed restrictions on migrant workers shuttling daily between the mainland and Macau.
According to official statistics, Macau had 123 hotels and guesthouses with a total of 38,000 guestrooms at the end of last year. The 16 reopened properties include seven luxury hotels such as Altira, Four Seasons and Sofitel-Ponte 16.
Government officials have said that the number of visitor arrivals and hotel guests has fallen by around 90 percent in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic.
A total of 29 of Macau's 41 casinos reopened today after a 15-day shutdown ordered by the government.
