Macau plans to attract more tourists from Hong Kong with offers
Macau Government Tourism Office () has promised new strategies designed to boost tourism and revive interest in Macau among Hong Kong travelers. This comes after the region saw a decline in arrivals from Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday.
Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, the director of MGTO, addressed over 100 tourism industry representatives at a spring luncheon in Hong Kong, where she shared plans to attract more visitors from the region. Fernandes said nearly 35 million visitors arrived in Macau in 2024, with over 7.10 million of those coming from Hong Kong, which was the second-largest market.
The office said in a statement, “MGTO will continue to roll out extensive and diverse promotions targeting the Hong Kong market this year, including initiatives on online platforms, social media as well as other online and offline measures.
“New attractions will be explored under the needs of different market segments in Hong Kong. MGTO’s market representative in Hong Kong will strengthen communication and collaboration with the travel trade, while regularly organising product presentations, themed familiarisation visits, collaborative promotions and marketing initiatives towards consumers, to secure the contribution of the Hong Kong market.”
Concerns were raised after Macau’s visitor arrivals witnessed a significant drop during the Chinese New Year holiday, falling short of even Macao Government Tourism Office’s () forecast.
Andy Wu, president of the Macau Tourism Industry Association, attributed this decline to focusing more on international tourists. The MGTO announced that the number of international visitor arrivals were up 10.2 percent during the Golden Week.
MGTO noted that Macau welcomed 58,000 international visitors during the eight-day Spring Festival Golden Week. This, Wu believes, may have inadvertently led to a neglect of traditional markets such as mainland China and Hong Kong.
International visitors rose, regional dipped
To address this, Wu stressed the need to refocus on retaining traditional markets, including mainland China and Hong Kong. There is also a concerted effort to tap into international markets to broaden Macau’s visitor base.
Macau registered 1.31 million visitor arrivals between 28 January and 4 February. This marks a drop of 3.5 per cent from last year’s Chinese New Year holiday period, averaging nearly 164,000 visitors per day. The average daily visitations recorded were below the MGTO’s forecast of 185,000 visitors per day.
One of the key reasons for the drop in Macau’s visitor numbers was the influence of neighbouring regions, particularly Hong Kong. Wu suggested that large-scale celebrations in cities like Hong Kong may have diverted some potential travelers away from Macau, leading to an initial drop in the number of visitors, followed by a slight rebound as the holiday progressed.
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