Public Security Police (PSP) Public Relations Division Chief Lam Keong told reporters yesterday that the local government expects between 5.6 and 6.0 million people – visitors and locals – to enter and exit Macau’s border checkpoints during the National Day/Mid-Autumn Festival Golden Week between October 1 and October 8.
Lam made the forecast during a press conference at the arrival hall of the Barrier Gate yesterday morning.
The joint press conference was also attended by Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Public Relations Division Chief Vong Lai Kuan, Transport Bureau (DSAT) Transport Management Division Chief António Ho Chan Tou, Macau Consumer Council (CCM) Complaints and Supervision of Consumer Activities Division Chief Wong Chi Cheong, and Macau Customs Service Public Relations Division Acting Chief Chang Ngan Meng.
Vong said that comprehensive preparations to welcome visitors have been launched for the upcoming eight-day National Day holiday, such as specific measures promoting Macau’s tourism through extensive online and offline channels and maintaining close communication with the tourism industry and the Chinese mainland’s tourism authorities, while also conducting joint inter-departmental inspections to ensure service quality.
Vong encouraged tourists to use MGTO’s smart crowd-flow app to check real-time congestion levels at 113 scenic spots.
Chang said that the Macau Customs Service has strengthened personnel deployment at all border checkpoints to ensure smooth clearance. Specifically for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, additional lanes will be opened to enhance traffic efficiency, Chang said.
Chang also said that the Macau Customs Service will leverage technology-enabled law enforcement and cross-border coordination to “rigorously” combat parallel trading, intellectual property infringements, and smuggling.
Lam said that Public Security Police have come up with various contingency plans. Officers will be deployed at border checkpoints and tourist spots to implement crowd and traffic control measures, and to ensure public order in the city’s two temporarily pedestrianised zones – one in Old Taipa Village and the other in the peninsula’s “Laahn Gwai Lau” neighbourhood.
Lam also said that during the Golden Week, the total number of entry and exit trips through all border checkpoints was projected to reach between 5.6 and 6 million, with the daily average expected to range between 700,000 and 750,000.
According to a PSP statement released on October 8, 2024, a total of 4,738,000 entry and exit trips were recorded during that year’s then 7-day National Day Golden Week, with a daily average of around 676,000.
Consequently, this year’s expected number of border entry and exit trips would reach a year-on-year growth of between 3.5 and 10.9 percent.
Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Public Relations Division Chief Vong Lai Kuan (centre), Transport Bureau (DSAT) Transport Management Division Chief António Ho Chan Tou (second left), Macau Consumer Council (CCM) Complaints and Supervision of Consumer Activities Division Chief Wong Chi Cheong (second right), Macau Customs Service Public Relations Division Acting Chief Chang Ngan Meng (left) and Public Security Police (PSP) Public Relations Division Chief Lam Keong pose before yesterday’s press conference at the Barrier Gate arrivals hall. – Photo: Armindo Neves
