Macau intends to lure about 30 million visitors this year and Beijing is willing to give a helping hand.
In 2015, the number of Macau’s visitor arrivals was down 2.6% year-on-year to 30,714,628, said Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO). The decrease is attributable to a number of external factors such as the instability of the international economic environment, China’s stock market drop, and exchange rate movements.
Despite the decline, the figure was still in line with MGTO’s forecast of over 30 million.
Head of the MGTO, Helena de Senna Fernandes, said during a press conference that the agency wants to maintain the goal of 30 million visitors and will focus on diversifying the origins of visitors.
“India is the market that we will focus on and make continuous assessment of the market conditions,” said Fernandes. “Now we are striving to have India’s Outbound Travel Mart held here.”
The agency has made a head start by making some adjustments to coordinate related activities for tourism promotion since the fourth quarter of last year. As a result, the number of international tourist arrivals in the fourth quarter experienced growth as well, posting a period-on-period increase of 3.9%.
Most tourists come from the Chinese mainland (20.4 million), and 44% of the figure comes from Guangdong province.
The average length of stay for overnight visitors increased compared to the same period in 2014, with the ratio of overnight-stay visitors surpassing that of same-day visitors again since December 2012.
“It is estimated that the number of visitor arrivals in 2016 will remain at a stable level,” said MGTO. “Regardless, it depends upon the overall prospects of the global economy.”
MGTO promised that it will closely monitor the latest economic trends and adjust its products and marketing strategies based on actual demand.
Li Gang, director of the Central People’s Government Liaison Office, said that China would initiate measures to support Macau if it sees a “huge fall” in visitor arrivals although he did not elaborate what kind of support China might give.
