MGTO is attentive to recent news reports about surging room rates in Macau during the Spring Festival. To date, MGTO has received one complaint on hotel room rate this year. However, as the complainant has not provided any concrete information, the case is still under investigation. The “Tourism Notification System for Spring Festival Golden Week” will start operation from February 2 to transmit information such as the number of visitors, room rates and hotel occupancy rates, including average room rates of guesthouses and hotels as well as occupancy rates of 3 to 5-star hotels. MGTO pointed out that 2 to 5-star and 5-star deluxe hotels in Macau offer different types of hotel rooms, ranging from standard guest rooms to villa suites which vary in size and room rate. Visitors are advised to check and compare the category and rate of the rooms on reservation. As hotel room rates are set by the supply and demand of the market, which is an economic behavior rather than a legal act, the government will not interfere with general market operation. MGTO has established a regular mechanism with hotels in Macau, which requires each hotel to report the rates of different room categories when opening for business and on renewal of its license every year. MGTO will register the rates submitted by the hotels. To facilitate investigation, visitors should state clearly information such as the date of check in, hotel name, room category and/or room number, booking voucher and receipt when filing for complaints. MGTO expressed that hotels and travel agencies maintain a cooperative relationship which authorizes travel agencies to sell rooms on behalf of the hotels legally. Travel agencies and hotels cooperate in different formats, such as obtaining rooms in one batch or fulfilling a certain quota of rooms over a certain period of time, and travel agencies would need to pay for the rooms even they are unsold. According to the law, the travel agency will be subjected to criminal charges if it is found to deliberately hoard hotel rooms and manipulate the room rate illegally during peak seasons. To provide Mainland visitors with Macau’s most updated tourism information, hotels in Macau are requested to report the average room rates and occupancy rates to MGTO before and during the Golden Week and MGTO will advise major source markets in the Mainland (Guangdong and Fujian provinces) of the relevant information, which will then be released by local tourism bureaus to the media. MGTO, the Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration and the Fujian Tourism Administration will activate the Golden Week notification system from February 2 to 9. Through this system, MGTO transmits to its counterparts in Guangdong and Fujian daily information such as the number of visitors that entered Macau the day before, the share of Mainland visitors, average room rates for the ensuing five days and hotel occupancy rates, to encourage visitors to check and compare the room rates before their outbound trips. To boost transparency, for the first time the data collected for the notification system will be published on MGTO’s website, to allow the media, visitors and the general public to be informed of the average hotel room rates and occupancy rates during the Spring Festival period. During the golden week holiday, MGTO will strengthen publicity efforts to raise awareness against illegal accommodation and to remind visitors to stay away from illegal accommodation for a safe and pleasant journey. During the Spring Festival period, MGTO inspectors will intensify surveillance at Macau's most visited sites and border checkpoints, while MGTO information counters and the tourism hotline 28 333 000 continue to operate. The tourism hotline will be attended by operators around the clock. The two public bus companies are advised to maintain sufficient service to cope with the surge in passenger flow.
