The low cost airline Viva Macau has chosen an interesting time to announce plans for a direct service between Macau and India. Macau’s rival casino jurisdiction Singapore is less than six months away from launching the first of two integrated gaming resorts and is widely tipped to attract lots of Indian tourists.
Not only is India nearer to Singapore than is Macau—Indian visitors are also likely to feel comfortable in the Lion City given the country’s significant ethnic Indian population and its large number of English speakers. Even to the most optimistic commentators, India is considered little more than a fringe market for Macau.
Reginald Macdonald, Viva Macau’s Chief Executive, appears to be unfazed.
“We hope to start direct flights in the later half of the year, in most likelihood between Macau and Mumbai,” he says.
In the first half of 2009, Macau saw a quarter on quarter spurt of around 25 percent to 30 percent in the number of Indian nationals visiting the former Portuguese territory. In real terms, however, the numbers are still tiny. In the four months from January to April this year there were 23,607 tourist visits by Indian passport holders. On an annualised basis that represents only around 0.23 percent of the 30 million tourists who came to Macau in 2008.
Perhaps Mr Macdonald and his fellow Viva Macau executives got swept up in the excitement of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, sometimes known by the unofficial tag ‘The Bollywood Oscars’, which were held last week in Macau.
