As the pandemic situation basically stabilized in the Mainland and Macao, Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has been actively promoting Macao as a safe and quality destination in accord with the reinstatement of travel permit issuance for Mainland residents. Boosted further by the charm of the festive season, average daily visitor arrivals to Macao exceeded 24,000 around Christmas between 23 and 27 December, while the average occupancy rate of local hotels neared 70%.

Average daily visitor arrivals increased 30% from October

Macao recorded an average daily volume of 24,503 visitor arrivals from 23 to 27 December, with an average of 22,826 Mainland visitors per day. The average daily volumes of visitor arrivals from Hong Kong, Taiwan region and international markets were 1,481, 192 and 3 respectively. Throughout the Christmas holiday period (23 – 27 December), average daily visitor arrivals surged by 20.2% compared with the average daily volume of visitors (20,385) between 1 and 22 December, and rose further by 30.5% compared with the average daily volume of visitors (18,774) in October 2020.

On Christmas, 25 December, visitor arrivals hit 27,755, the second highest daily record over the last ten months in the wake of the pandemic. The top daily record of visitor arrivals was registered on 20 November, the race practice day of Macau Grand Prix.

Some hotels saw over 70% average occupancy rate

Figures provided by industry operators revealed that local hotel establishments (hotels and guest houses) saw an average occupancy rate of 69.4% between 23 and 27 December. The occupancy rates of 3-Star to 5-Star hotels even hit or surpassed 70%.

The average room rate of hotel establishments (hotels and guest houses) in Macao was about 970.3 patacas between 23 and 27 December. The average room rates of 5-Star and 4-Star hotels were around 1,226.1 patacas and 624.1 patacas respectively. The average room rates of 3-Star and 2-Star hotels were around 605.5 patacas and 234 patacas respectively. The average room rate of guest houses was around 184.6 patacas. The average room rate of all hotel establishments declined by 7.4% compared with that in October, which included the Golden Week.

Ongoing promotion to draw visitors to Macao during festive holidays

Throughout this year, the Macao SAR Government has partnered with Tencent, Alibaba, Trip.com, UnionPay International and Air Macau to promote special offers and travel information, with the aim to attract visitors to Macao, stimulate increase in tourism expenditure and extend visitors’ length of stay, in turn spurring various industries to move forward and revive the economy.

Following the resumption of travel permit issuance for Mainland residents to Macao, MGTO has continuously stepped up promotional efforts on social media including Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Weibo, Wechat, Mafengwo and so forth, with KOLs conducting live streams. This year, the Office also launched its official accounts on Xiaohongshu and Douyin to engage more Mainland residents on social media platforms with wide popularity in the country. Travel connoisseurs were invited to the city to help promote Macao as a safe and quality destination, whereas discounted travel packages and products were launched for travel to Macao through collaboration with different online travel agencies (OTA).

To further raise the destination profile, MGTO has been pushing forward a diverse range of promotional initiatives including Beijing Macao Week, Tour Macao Carnival and “Macao Ready Go!” online platform. In addition, 60 short videos about travel to Macao were filmed to highlight Macao’s image as a safe and quality destination. The promotional initiatives aim to bolster travelers’ confidence and strive for more visitations from the Mainland to Macao during festive holidays, in turn stimulating tourism recovery.

Moreover, MGTO has leveraged different channels to inform visitors various information about the pandemic situation and prevention, such as displaying “Pandemic prevention tips for Mainland visitors in Macao” on TV screens at the Gongbei Port immigration hall, posting pandemic prevention guidelines on MGTO’s website, publicizing information on pandemic prevention at MGTO’s Tourist Information counters at different ports of entry, calling for attention on pandemic prevention on MGTO’s Wechat and Weibo accounts, producing the graphic abstract of “Pandemic prevention tips for Mainland visitors in Macao” in addition to distributing leaflets at MGTO’s Tourist Information counters. In addition, hotel establishments and industry organizations continue to assist in disseminating pandemic prevention information to visitors. In accord with the latest arrangement for hotel venues for medical observation in Macao, related pamphlets have been produced for dissemination on the shuttle bus across the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and on airlines flying into Macao, as well as for posting on MGTO’s website, so that visitors and residents can promptly obtain relevant information in hand.