GGRAsia – Can be 70k Macau visitors daily post May hols says trade rep

Can be 70k Macau visitors daily post May hols says trade rep

May 08, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Macau is likely to see a daily average of “70,000 to 80,000” visitor arrivals in the period immediately following the Labour Day holiday break, says Macau Travel Industry Council president, Andy Wu Keng Kuong, in comments reported at the weekend.

Mr Wu mentioned as supporting factors, an increasing number of package tours from mainland China, and the presence of travellers from international feeder markets.

His estimate was cited on Saturday by local Chinese-language media outlet Macao Daily News. Mr Wu also said he expected Macau’s volume of inbound visitors to reach pre-pandemic level; i.e., 2019 volumes, this summer, likely to be another peak season for the local hospitality trade.

Macau had approximately 493,000 visitor arrivals across a period covering April 29 to May 3, with 376,000 from mainland China, according to a Friday update from Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO). The five-day period is designated on the Chinese mainland as this year’s Labour Day break.

Those data put the average daily visitor volume over the Labour Day break at 98,600, or 61.9 percent of the same break in 2019. The latter year’s holiday was officially four days, from May 1 to May 4 inclusive. It generated an aggregate of 636,644 visitor arrivals.

The average daily visitor arrivals for the summer months of July and August in 2019 were respectively 113,878 and 116,874, according to data from Statistics and Census Service.

In other news, a May 4 press release from Macau International Airport’s operator mentioned resumption of a number of overseas services from April, including Seoul-Macau flights operated by South Korean budget carrier Jin Air Co Ltd, as well as flights connecting Macau to Philippines run by Cebu Air Inc, operating as Cebu Pacific Air.

Macau’s Civil Aviation Authority will – with effect from mid-May – permit either upping of flight frequencies or resumption of certain flights for a number of airlines serving Macau and regional overseas destinations, according to a May 2 update. That includes the authority’s approval – with effect from May 15 – for Air Macau to increase to 14 the tally of weekly flights between the city and Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok, Thailand.

Macau’s aviation authority has also approved – with effect from July 1 – budget carrier Tigerair Taiwan Co Ltd’s resumption of flights between Macau and Taiwan from July 1. It has also permitted – with effect from July 10 – another budget carrier, Thai Vietjet Air, to increase to 14 the tally of weekly flights between Macau and Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.