"October" Golden Week, Macau's tourism market revived

　　Xinhua News Agency, Macau, October 8 -

　　Xinhua News Agency reporter Guo Xin Wang Chenxi

　　During the "Eleventh" Golden Week, mainland residents enjoy an eight-day holiday. As one of the few overseas tourist destinations in the post-epidemic period, Macau’s major attractions have seen an endless stream of long-lost tourists.

The return of mainland tourists to Macau has brought the local tourism market back to life.

　　The "Eleventh" Golden Week is the first long holiday after the mainland resumes the application of visas for residents to travel to Macau.

The Macau SAR government and the tourism industry have made meticulous preparations for this. Colorful events such as firework shows, food festivals, and light and shadow festivals are held during the Golden Week. The SAR government has organized large-scale road exhibitions in Beijing early, hoping to leave a bright future for the mainland people impression.

　　To welcome the arrival of the Golden Week, Macau's tourism industry has also launched a series of hotel and air ticket discounts on the mainland e-commerce platform, which has produced a lot of attraction for mainland tourists.

　　During the Golden Week, many mainland tourists visiting Australia reported that the air tickets from mainland cities to and from Macau are very cheap and the accommodation costs are also very cost-effective. If you get a consumer coupon, you can enjoy a discount.

　　According to statistics from the Macau Government Tourist Office, in the middle of the Golden Week when tourists are concentrated, the number of daily inbound tourists generally remains between 15,000 and 20,000, which has improved greatly from the period of the epidemic, but it is still far from the same period in previous years. There is a gap.

From October 1st to 7th, a total of 139,000 tourists visited Australia, which was only 14% of the same period in 2019. Among them, 129,000 were from mainland China, a year-on-year decrease of 83%.

　　Huang Hui, chairman of the Macau Tourism Industry Council, said that group tourism has not yet resumed during the "Eleventh" Golden Week. The recovery of Macau's tourism industry is positive in the medium term, but the process will be slow.

　　In scenic spots such as the St. Paul's archway, the Senate Pavilion, and the Venetian, the "Eleventh" Golden Week saw a long-lost bustling of tourists, carrying suitcases and large bags, which is quite different from the empty scene during the epidemic. .

However, some shop operators in scenic spots said that although there are more tourists, consumption is still insufficient.

　　Macau tourism industry insiders said that the average occupancy rate of local hotels during the "11" Golden Week has returned to about 50%, but the room rate is only about 40% of the same period in previous years.

　　Although there is still a big gap in the number of tourists visiting Australia during the Golden Week compared with the same period in previous years, the increasing passenger flow still convinces businessmen that Macau's tourism industry is on the way to recovery.

　　According to a survey conducted by the Macau Federation of Outlying Islands Industry and Commerce, the sales of Macau merchants during the "Eleventh" Golden Week have generally increased by 20 to 30% compared with the epidemic period. As the epidemic in Macau stabilizes, many new stores have opened, reflecting the confidence of businesses in the recovery of the tourism industry.