Subsidy of up to 400 patacas for each overnight mainland visitor

With today’s resumption of tour groups from the mainland visiting Macau, the local government has announced that it will roll out various promotional offers and other campaigns with the aim of further boosting the recovery of Macau’s tourism sector, such as a subsidy of up to 400 patacas for each overnight visitor in a tour group from the mainland to be given to local travel agencies that organise the group’s tour here.

Mainland tour groups to Macau and Hong Kong were suspended by the central government at the start of the pandemic in early 2020. 

The central government announced on Friday morning the “full” resumption of travel between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macau, which gets off the ground today,  including the resumption of mainlanders’ tour groups to Hong Kong and Macau, shortly after which the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) held a press conference where officials announced the Macau government’s preparation for tour groups from the mainland to visit Macau again, and various measures aiming to boost the city’s tourism sector.

The press conference, which took place at the Macau Grand Prix Museum, was hosted by Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong, MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, and MGTO Deputy Director Cheng Wai Tong.

Mainlanders’ tour groups to boost tourism ‘a great deal’: Lei

Lei said that the central government’s resumption of mainlanders’ tour groups to Macau would “surely” boost the recovery of Macau’s tourism and economy “a great deal”. He pledged that the local government will continue to make good use of the central government’s various measures favourable for Macau’s development. The Macau government will continuously consolidate the tourism source market from the mainland, while strengthening its campaigns to attract Hong Kong visitors to Macau again and creating favourable conditions for expanding the international market, the policy secretary said.

Lei also pledged that the local government will continue to improve the city’s tourism products and services, with the aim of increasing visitors’ length of stay and attracting repeat visitors.

Lei also noted on Friday that the resumption of mainlanders’ tour groups restarting today covers the whole mainland, instead of only “four provinces and one municipality”, namely Guangdong as well as Fujian, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, as announced previously. 

According to the central government’s announcement last year, the resumption of mainlanders’ tour groups to Macau would have initially only covered the five regions.

Govt expects visitor number to return to pre-pandemic level

Lei also said that the Macau government has been preparing for the full recovery of Macau’s tourism sector, in expectation that the city will welcome around 40 million visitor arrivals per year again, the level recorded in the pre-pandemic year of 2019. According to official statistics, Macau recorded 39.4 million visitor arrivals in 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic began to affect Macau in early 2020.

Macau’s tourism has been gradually recovering since January 8 when Macau scrapped all COVID-19 testing requirements for those entering from the mainland, Hong Kong or Taiwan.

Lei noted that the number of Macau’s visitor arrivals is currently still lower than the average daily number of around 100,000 in 2019. “Everyone in Macau is aware that various businesses in Macau were hard hit by the huge drop in the number of visitor arrivals during the three years affected by COVID-19,” Lei said.

According to official statistics, Macau recorded the highest daily visitor arrivals of 90,391 on January 24, i.e., the third day of the first month of the lunar calendar, since the pandemic began to affect Macau in early 2020.

Subsidy for overnight visitors

During Friday’s press conference, Senna Fernandes noted that the local government announced in December that it will roll out a subsidy programme in 2023 for local travel agencies that organise overnight tour groups from the mainland. She reaffirmed the programme’s details during the press conference, according to which a local travel agency will be given a subsidy of 150 patacas for each visitor from Guangdong who stays for one hotel night, and 300 patacas for each traveller who stays for two or more nights, while the subsidy will be 250 patacas for each visitor from outside Guangdong who stays for one hotel night, and 400 patacas for each tourist who stays for two or more nights.

Senna Fernandes also said that 88 local travel agencies are eligible to participate in the subsidy programme.

In addition, the tourism chief also said that the local government is planning to roll out a subsidy for overnight tour groups from foreign countries, adding that the subsidy for each visitor would be higher than tour groups from the mainland. But she was quick to add that the government was still considering the exact amount of the subsidy.

Senna Fernandes also said that the local government would continue with its promotional discount offers for air tickets and hotel stays for visitors.

She also said that the local government would continue with its promotional campaigns for Macau’s tourism in the mainland and Hong Kong. Moreover, she underlined, the local government is preparing to roll out promotional campaigns and offers in Taiwan and foreign countries. 

Secretary for Economy (left) and Finance Lei Wai Nong (centre), Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, and MGTO Deputy Director Cheng Wai Tong address Friday’s press conference at the Macau Grand Prix Museum in Zape about today’s resumption of mainlanders’ tour groups to Macau. – Photo: MGTO