Macau welcomed almost 5 million visitor arrivals in the three months to 31 March 2023 – almost as many as there were through the entirety of 2022, the Macao Government Tourism Office has revealed.
According to provisional figures released during the Easter weekend, there were around 4.96 million visitors for the quarter, including 1.51 million from Hong Kong. This compares to 5.7 million visitor arrivals last year and 7.7 million in 2021, although the current run-rate still lags well behind the 39.4 million arrivals in 2019.
The update formed part of an announcement by the MGTO that it would commence the second phase of its “Macao Treat” special offer from 10 April to 30 June by which anyone who buys a bus or ferry ticket to Macau from Hong Kong and staying for at least one night is eligible to receive their return ticket for free.
The first phase, which ran from 13 January to 31 March, saw 145,657 free tickets given away including over 100,000 ferry tickets and over 45,000 bus tickets, the MGTO said.
“The objective [of the free ticket offer] is to attract overnight visitors from a wider variety of source markets and energize travelers’ interest in Macau for tourism and economic revival,” the agency explained.
Service operators partnering with the MGTO for the free ticket offer include Hong Kong – Macao Express, One Bus Hong Kong Macau and Eternal East Cross-Border Coach Management Limited, plus ferry operators TurboJET and Cotai Water Jet.
