Grand Prix buildup helped Macau achieve 35,000 visits per day (government)
Macau recorded 35,525 tourist arrivals on Friday, November 19, the highest on that date, as a number of Covid-19 cases were reported locally starting end of SeptemberMacau Government Tourism Board (MGTO) said, adding that preparations for the Macau Grand Prix weekend had helped the numbers.
The Macao Grand Prix meeting (photo) was held from Friday to Sunday (November 21) inclusive.
The daily average from November 12 to 18 inclusive was 26,655, up 150.9% from last month, the tourist office said in a statement released on Saturday. October arrivals per day averaged 10,622.
MGTO said the daily tally of inbound tourists to Macau had recovered somewhat, since the city eased some travel restrictions that had been imposed after the Covid-19 cases.
Visitor arrivals have also benefited from a series of events such as the Macao Grand Prix which ended on Sunday and the Macao Food Festival which runs until December 5, the tourism office said.
The daily average from November 5 to November 11 inclusive was 25,433 arrivals.
The latest numbers of daily visitors are still well below pre-pandemic performance. In November 2019, Macau welcomed 2.9 million tourists, a daily average of over 97,000.
Total annual tourism may only return to 2019 volume by 2025the tourism bureau said in data released on Nov. 12 as part of its review of Macau’s tourism industry master plan.
Currently, mainland China is the only place to have a largely quarantine-free deal with Macau.
But Macao had, since mid-October, seen an increase in the list of departure points on the continent where travelers are subject to a quarantine on their arrival in Macao.
Restrictions on people coming from parts of Chongqing Municipality, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shandong, Heilongjiang, Qinghai and Hebei provinces were not lifted until Sunday.
Communities or districts in the following locations remain affected: Beijing City, Hui Autonomous Region of Ningxia, and Yunnan, Jiangxi, Henan, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Jilin and Gansu Provinces.
