Macau records nearly 5m visitor arrivals in Q1

According to the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), almost a third of arrivals were from Hong Kong.

Macau.- The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has announced that Macau received over 4.96m visitors in the first quarter of 2023. It says 1.5 million of them were from Hong Kong, a nearly tenfold surge from last year. 

The MGTO announced the figures while revealing a second round of subsidies for Hong Kong residents travelling to Macau. The “Macao Treat” initiative offers “buy-one-get-one-free” on bus or ferry tickets for travel to Macau. Visitors must stay at least one night and use a participating bus or ferry service.

The second phase of the initiative, to run from April 10 to June 30, will be extended to cover people visiting Macau from Taiwan and those transiting via Hong Kong.

During the first phase from January 13 to March 31, 45,657 ferry or bus journeys were taken under the offer, amounting to about 3 per cent of the first-quarter total aggregate of visitor arrivals to Macau. The number of tickets issued was around 100,000 for ferry services and 45,000 for bus services. 

Meanwhile, Macau International Airport has reported 1.7-times year-on-year growth in passenger journeys in the first quarter, with over 750,000 passengers recorded. There was a 57 per cent year-on-year improvement in flight movements, with over 6,900 flights. The daily average passenger traffic was around 10,000, and there were approximately 100 daily flight movements.

The Macau government has budgeted around MOP600m (US$74.2m) this year to stimulate inbound tourism, including via consumer roadshows on the Chinese mainland and overseas and subsidised promotions on certain tickets.