Macau predicts shift in travel patterns as Covid-19 limits tourism to short-haul, short stay visitors
- Time spent on trip planning and pertinent reservations may be shortened, while many may opt for short-haul travel, tourism director says
- ‘Golden week’ holiday did not bring many good news as arrivals, mostly from mainland China, slumped by almost 90 per cent
The changes may be inevitable as the government takes steps to reopen its border to more visitors to its casinos and other cultural attractions. The viral outbreak since January has left the local economy in tatters, with tourist arrivals in free fall.
“The time one invests on trip planning and pertinent reservations before holiday may be shortened, while many may opt for short-haul travel,” Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), said in an email interview with the Post.
“The condition of public health and safety in travel facilities will become travellers’ foremost consideration when they make their choices of travel destination, transport mode and hotel,” she said.
The city received 3.57 million tourists from January to August this year, representing an 87 per cent slide from a year earlier, government statistics show, following the enforced border closure and temporary casino shutdown.
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Millions travel as National Day opens ‘golden week’, China’s first big holiday since Covid-19
The ‘golden week’ holiday did not bring much relief either with arrivals, mostly from mainland China, crashing by almost 90 per cent on average to 19,538 per day, compared with the same peak festive break in 2019, the MGTO said.
