* By Thérèse Tu
The Macau Tour Guides Association has called on the government to extend the Stay, Dine and See Macau program, which is scheduled to end at the end of December.
The head of the association, Wu Wai Fong, however, also noted in an interview with TDM that the program has so far provided “limited help” to the industry.
The “Stay, Dine and See Macao” program aims to boost national spending in the community and accelerate the recovery of tourism and related industries, by providing residents with short tours around Macau.
From April to December, each local resident was entitled to a special one-time accommodation subsidy offer of 200 MOP and one-time visitation fee subsidy of 280 MOP provided by the project.
The “Stay, Dine and See Macau” program is popular among Macau residents, helping to boost the hotel catering industry, noted Macau Hotel and Innkeepers Association vice president Wong Lai. Mei, also at TDM.
Ms Wong said hotel occupancy rates are generally stable, as the recent Covid-19 outbreak in Guangdong province has not affected many areas of the province.
However, the economic situation and “the shadow of the pandemic” still have a negative impact on the hotel industry, as room prices are still low.
The SAR Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) reported that the average occupancy rate of local hotels in November was 46.8 percent.
According to data released yesterday (Wednesday), the rate is 2.0 percentage points over one month and an increase of 2.8 percentage points over one year.
