Macau-bound package tours unlikely to resume soon: govt

Feb 25, 2022 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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Macau’s Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng (pictured in file photo) said on Friday that the reinstatement by authorities in mainland China of Macau-bound package tours might require “more time”. That was considering recent Covid-19 outbreaks in Hong Kong, and in the mainland cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan, in Guangdong province, next door to Macau.

Mr Ho was speaking to local reporters on the sidelines of a public event.

The head of the Macau government added he believed authorities in mainland China would not allow a “large volume” of visitors to travel to Macau in the near term, taking into consideration the current pandemic situation.

Mr Ho also said the Macau government was not considering to ease its “zero-Covid” strategy. He explained such approach was important for ensuring the maintenance of the largely quarantine-free travel arrangement currently in place with mainland China, the city’s main source of visitors.

Macau had recorded a daily average of 20,000 to 30,000 inbound visitors following the Lunar New Year break at the beginning of the month, Mr Ho said. He added such average represented a “steady” volume of tourists.

Some provinces and cities in mainland China have reportedly been “slowing or tightening” the approval of visas for trips to Macau, JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd said in a Thursday note. The brokerage however added it did not have enough evidence to draw on a “meaningful” conclusion on potential changes to mainland China’s visa scheme for visits to Macau.

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