Macau's popularity grows during the Chinese New Year holidays

According to the latest data, the number of people arriving in Macau during the celebration of the Chinese New Year increased by 26.1% compared to 2018.

Preliminary data provided by the city’s public security control show that Macau received 628,811 visitors from Monday 4 to Thursday 7 (February). During this period, the first four days of the holidays, dedicated to the celebration of the Chinese New Year, entered. The figures were published on Friday by the Macau Government Tourism Office.

A total of 71.2% of those arriving on the first four days of the holiday period this year, or 447,768 people, were visitors from mainland China, which shows an increase of 26.5% year on year for this category of tourists.

Weekly vacation is usually the peak season for the gambling industry in Macau, since hundreds of thousands of tourists from mainland China use this vacation to visit the city. The State Council of China defined the festive period of the Chinese New Year of 2019 from Monday, February 4th to Sunday, February 10th.

Investment analysts, however, noted that it is not necessary to establish a direct link between the number of tourists in Macau and the income of casinos. The research results show that highrollers are a very important part of the market.

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandez, director of the Macao Tourism Authority (MGTO), said last week that the city could increase the number of visitors to this Chinese New Year holiday by 8-9% on an annualized basis. In the same period last year, Macau received more than 960,000 visitors.

The head of the tourism department mentioned the newly opened Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge as one of the main reasons for the likely increase in the number of visitors to the administrative district. The bridge, which covers 34 miles from the Pearl River Delta, offers a direct road route from Hong Kong and its major airport to Macau.

Preliminary data presented by the MGTO on Friday show that a total of 106,859 visitors arrived in Macau from a new bridge from Monday to Thursday.