Macau’s tourism boss expects the city to attract a daily average of about 125,000 visitors during the four days of the 72nd Macau Grand Prix motorsport meeting that starts today (Thursday, November 13) and runs until Sunday.
Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office, made the comments at a public event on Wednesday.
Such a 500,000 tally would put the motor racing event’s pulling power nearly on par with the four-day Easter break this year that was marked in Macau’s neighbouring special administrative region Hong Kong. The latter city is also Macau’s second-largest source of tourists after the Chinese mainland. For Easter, Macau’s daily arrivals average was circa 130,000.
Should Ms Senna Fernandes’ forecast be realised for the 2025 Grand Prix, the visitor tally daily average would be about 87 percent of the new daily arrivals record set during this year’s October Golden Week, which this time was an eight-day break on the mainland. That daily average was above 143,000.
Investment analysts commenting on Macau’s casino industry have said that visitor volume alone is not always a predictor of Macau’s gross gaming revenue performance.
Ms Senna Fernandes also mentioned on Wednesday the inbound-visitor market in the context of the 15th National Games of the People’s Republic of China, which Macau is co-hosting along with Guangdong province and Hong Kong. The opening ceremony for the games was held in Guangzhou, Guangdong, on Sunday and the gathering runs until November 21.
The tourism boss said Macau had received an average of about 90,000 visitors per day since the start of the games, which she said was close to the authorities’ expected figures.
Ms Senna Fernandes added she thought Macau’s hosting of National Games events would also draw more visitors to neighbouring Hengqin, which has hotels and tourism facilities.
The Macau government said last week that a fresh policy announced by the mainland authorities had designated Hengqin as a new immigration crossing point for holders of certain foreign passports entitled to 240-hour visa-free transit to the mainland. The Macau authorities said the step would enhance Macau’s role as a gateway to the rest of the country.
