Visitor arrivals surged during Labor Day Holiday A series of continuous initiatives unfolded to optimize tourism environment

Personnel were stationed at various tourist spots to provide information and assist in visitor flow diversion

With the 1^st May Labor Day holiday extended to span four days (1^st – 4^th May) in Mainland China, more Mainland residents were enticed to travel during the mentioned period, which, in addition to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge now in operation, led to a considerable year-on-year increase in total visitor arrivals to Macao. Provisional statistics revealed that Macao welcomed 636,644 visitors in total throughout the four-day holiday. The volume of visitors during the first three days of the Labor Day holiday increased year-on-year by 37.0%, compared with the three-day Labor Day holiday (29^th April to 1^st May) of 2018. During the Labor Day holiday, MGTO carried out more rigorous inspections against irregularities. During inspections, no sign of irregularities involving unlicensed tour guide was discovered. It was however discovered that there were a few locally-licensed tour guides leading tour groups without wearing their tour guide licenses. Highly concerned about the city’s tourism carrying capacity during festivals and holidays, MGTO actively carries out a diversity of measures to optimize the tourism environment.

According to provisional statistics (non-resident employees and students excluded from visitor arrivals) provided by the Public Security Police Force, Macao registered 636,644 visitor arrivals during the four-day Labor Day holiday. Since the Labour Day holiday of last year spanned three days, visitor arrivals during the first three days of the Labor Day holiday this year was applied in year-on-year comparison. Visitor arrivals during the first three days of the Labor Day Holiday this year reached 531,503, registering a year-on-year rise of 37.0%. 436,679 of the visitors came from the Mainland, an increase of 42.7%.

Hotel occupancy rate and room rate

To date, the supply of various local hotels and guest houses has reached a total of 40,162 rooms. According to the latest figures provided by industry operators, local hotel establishments saw an average occupancy rate of approximately 96.2% during the Labor Day holiday, a year-on-year rise of 1.9 percentage point. The average room rate of hotel establishments (hotels and guest houses) in Macao reached about 1,882.2 patacas, an increase of about 16.7%.

Promote smart tool of visitor flow forecast via diverse channels

MGTO is actively opening up different channels to encourage more visitors to capitalize on the “smart application for visitor flows”, including sending mobile text messages to visitors, putting on notice and reminding visitors at the Tourist Information counters at various ports of entry and Senado Square, through the assistance of MGTO representatives, mobile app “Step Out, Macao” as well as MGTO’s WeChat ID “MGTOweixin” to provide pertinent information, besides indicating the forecast level of visitor flows at various attractions through the TDM Information Channel.

A total of 2,665 users harnessed the “smart application for visitor flows” from 1^st to 4^th May, including 980 local users (36.8%) and 937 users from Mainland China (35.2%). Users were mainly interested in the status of visitor flows at the Ruins of St. Paul’s, Senado Square, Taipa Village and Macau Tower, among others. The total count of views reached 6,008.

A few locally-licensed tour guides led tour groups without wearing tour guide licenses

In face of the peak travel period during the Labor Day holiday, MGTO conducted 38 inspections at major ports of entry and tourist attractions from 1^st to 4^th May (including four joint inspections carried out with the Public Security Police Force (PSP) and the Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL)). During inspections, MGTO, PSP and DSAL did not discover any sign of irregularities involving unlicensed tour guide. Nevertheless, during inspections, it was discovered that there were a few individuals leading tour groups without wearing any local tour guide license. The individuals were later confirmed as local licensed tour guides. Three official statements were taken against such cases of irregularities by tour guides leading tour groups without wearing a tour guide license, and sanction procedures will ensue.

MGTO also carried out 12 joint actions against illegal accommodation with PSP and sealed eight apartments allegedly operated as illegal accommodation.

An array of continuous measures to optimize tourism environment

Highly concerned about the city’s tourism carrying capacity during festivals and holidays, MGTO has carried out a diversity of measures to alleviate the level of crowdedness at major attractions. MGTO actively studies on developing a pilot scheme to unfold at the vicinity from Senado Square until the Ruins of St. Paul’s, to collect statistical figures about visitor flows via devices of the Internet of Things (IOT) and thus optimize the forecast of visitor flows at tourist attractions.

MGTO and Hong Kong Tourism Board will sign a “Cooperative Agreement on Research Project about the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge”, to conduct a comprehensive analysis on the situation after the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge came into operation and gain insights into transformation in the composition of visitor source markets to Macao and their mode of transport, their awareness and comment about the Bridge, etc. The findings will serve as reference for future tourism planning and destination promotion of Macao. With consideration for residents’ living environment in the first place, MGTO will work on developing new tourist attractions for re-distribution of visitor flows and embark upon the study on imposition of tourism tax. MGTO continues to listen to opinions from different sectors and maintain sound communication with stakeholders to optimize the tourism environment and service quality continuously in Macao.