When the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau (HKZM) Bridge was built, linking Hong Kong’s Lantau Island and the Macau Peninsula, it was seen as a great opportunity to increase the commerce between the two areas, as well as become a more convenient way for visitors to travel. However, that doesn’t seem to be driving (pun intended) force for visitors these days, as they are most interested in using the bridge for an 
unexpected reason – curiosity.
When the bridge was first opened, it was expected to become a great means to increase tourism in Macau. The city had already seen a 9.8% increase in tourism in 2018 over that of the previous year and was expecting to see that number climb by as much as 6% additional because of the HKZM bridge.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, explained that “The HKZMB is very significant. Our data shows that in a very short period [since the opening on October 24 until the end of 2018] over 1 million visitors entered Macau via the Bridge.”
It was a positive forecast like this that made many believe that the convenience of using the bridge would be a driving factor in helping to increase tourism numbers. However, this study seems to show that most people are simply interested in the experience of driving over the sea crossing structure.
Since the bridge opened on October 24 up until October 23, over 14 million passengers have traveled across the structure. This according to the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua. They added that most are making trips between Macau and Hong Kong.
As part of the review of the success of the bridge, a survey conducted by the Bureau of Tourism found surprising results. “Visitors to Macau were inclined to harness the bridge for the major reason ‘out of curiosity to experience something new and the over [CNY]100-billion [$14.3 billion] infrastructure across sea’, followed by other reasons, namely less travel time and expense.”
In addition, it was discovered that “over 70 percent of visitors to Macau expressed that they would travel to Macau and Hong Kong in one trip.” This means that most people are using the bridge for day trips, opting to travel either to Hong Kong or Macau, and then returned that day.
Also reported in the survey was the fact that 42.7% stated that they would rather not use ferry terminals or would use them far less frequently because of the availability of travel of the bridge. Ferry trips can cost as much as HKD331 ($42.50) round-trip, a likely reason why many are preferring to use the bridge.