Although the Golden Week in mainland China is not yet halfway through, the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has concluded that visitor arrivals during Macau’s National Day Golden Week would exceed expectations.
The authorities have revised their visitor forecast, anticipating that this year’s National Day Golden Week will surpass previous years, with an average daily visitor count reaching 130,000—outperforming expectations.
Earlier, MGTO had predicted an average of 100,000 visitors per day during the Golden Week period.
During an interview on Thursday, Cheng Wai Tong, Deputy Director of MGTO, stated that the number of visitors to Macao on the first day of Golden Week reached 138,000, and on October 2, a new single-day record of 166,000 was set.
Cheng noted that the hotel occupancy rate on the first day of Golden Week reached 94.6 percent and is expected to remain high in the coming days.
As reported previously, hotel room bookings for the October Golden Week in Macau have been satisfactory. Analysts from UBS noted a significant increase in fully booked hotels ahead of the holiday, compared to both Labour Week earlier this year and last October’s Golden Week.
However, hotel prices are approximately 7 percent lower than during the first Golden Week of the year and remain unchanged from last October’s rates.
Favorable Policies
Cheng analyzed that a series of favorable policies introduced by the central government this year, combined with collaborative efforts from various sectors, have contributed to a steady recovery in the tourism industry.
A new multi-entry visa for Chinese nationals on package tours was implemented on May 6th of this year, allowing more fluid tourism passage between Macau and neighboring Hengqin. This measure enables mainland Chinese residents participating in package tours to move between the two regions multiple times over a seven-day period.
Cheng revealed that since its implementation until the end of September, 3,500 people have utilized this policy for joint trips between Macao and Zhuhai, with approximately 1,500 of those in September. With more travel agencies participating, the number of users is expected to gradually increase.