The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has partnered with Air Macau to arrange a study tour for representatives of the Japanese travel industry in a bid to promote Macau to Japan as a tourism destination.
In announcing the initiative, the MGTO noted that Japan had been Macau’s third largest international source market prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with 295,783 Japanese visitors to Macau in 2019 putting it behind only the Philippines and South Korea. However, according to the latest statistics, only 22,201 Japanese visitors arrived in Macau in the first half of 2023, placing it eighth among foreign source markets and 87% lower than the same period in 2019.
In order to Highlight Macau’s tourism benefits, the MGTO invited a total of 14 people, including travel agency representatives from Tokyo and Osaka, to Macau for a three-day study tour from 20 July.
It also MGTO also held a meeting with the Japanese delegation alongside Macau travel agencies, hotels, airlines, ferry companies and concessionaires.
“With the resumption of full customs clearance in Macau early this year and the resumption of international flights to and from Macau by the aviation industry, the MGTO has been making every effort to promote and publicize its work in the international market and to attract more international tourists to visit Macau,” the MGTO said. This time the MGTO has joined hands with Air Macau to strive to attract more Japanese tourists to visit Macau.”
MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes noted in an interview over the weekend that the number of foreign visitors to Macau has only recovered to around 20% of pre-pandemic levels.
“It will take some time for the number of flights to Macau to return to pre-pandemic levels and the MGTO will work with Air Asia, Air Busan and other carriers to offer airfare concessions,” she said.
Fernandes also pointed out that hotel occupancy reached 90% last weekend while visitor arrivals are averaging around 80,000 daily during the summer.
