Macau’s tourism boss said on Monday that her office still expects the city to meet its target of circa 39 million visitor arrivals in full-year 2025, a tally that would be supported by visa easing measures, implemented in January this year, for residents in the neighbouring city of Zhuhai in mainland China.
Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes (pictured), director of Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), made the remarks on the sidelines of an event hosted by Macau casino operator Wynn Macau Ltd.
“Early this year we had estimated that the aggregate visitor volume [for full-year 2025] would be between 38 million and 39 million,” stated Ms Senna Fernandes.
“Following the [visa] easing measures, the trend of visitor arrivals has been performing well. So, we are maintaining the 39-million forecast” for full-year 2025, she added.
The visa easing measures for Macau-bound travellers from Zhuhai have been driving the growth in the inflow of visitors, said the tourism boss.
Should the 39-million tourist tally forecast be realised, it would represent circa 99 percent of the 39.4 million visitor arrivals recorded in 2019, the immediate trading year before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The MGTO boss had mentioned on Saturday that Macau was likely to receive 1.2 million visitors during the eight-day Chinese-mainland holiday encompassing China’s National Day on October 1 and the lunar calendar-based Mid-Autumn Festival, which this year falls on October 6. The holiday break is also known as the October Golden Week.
The MGTO’s visitor volume forecast for this year’s October Golden Week – if realised – would represent a 28.6-percent increase from the same holiday period in 2024, when the aggregate visitor volume stood at 932,860, according to MGTO’s data.
This year’s October Golden Week holiday is one day longer than the same period last year.
