Macau’s Chief Executive, Ho Iat Seng, expresses his confidence that Macau will attract more than 30 million visitors this year.
During a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, Ho forecasts that, in an optimistic scenario where the average daily number of passengers remains over 100,000, Macau could record nearly 36 million visitor arrivals. If the average daily number of passengers drops to about 80,000, it is expected that there will be between 33 million and 34 million visitors this year.
Just to recall, Macau received over 28 million visitors last year. In 2019, Macau welcomed 39.4 million visitor arrivals.
During the plenary session, some lawmakers expressed concerns about tourism, expecting that China could expand the list of cities allowing the use of the individual visit scheme (IVS), which could further increase Macau’s visitor arrivals.
In response, Ho Iat Seng cited Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, as stating to Hong Kong that many new measures will be implemented successively, and he called on everyone to remain confident.
Macau’s Chief Executive notes that the central government has always been “very supportive” of Macau and will continue to introduce many new measures.
He mentioned that the multi-entry visa between Macau and Hengqin for tour groups is under scrutiny, expressing his belief that the scheme will help attract more tour groups to visit Macau.