During the Chinese New Year (2018) holiday, the total number of visitor arrivals increased by 6.5 per cent year- on-year, according to data released on Thursday by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO).Published on : Friday, February 23, 2018
During the Chinese New Year (2018) holiday, the total number of visitor arrivals increased by 6.5 per cent year- on-year, according to data released on Thursday by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO).
Around 963,265 visitor arrivals were recorded during the new year holiday. Of these, 716,041 were mainland visitors, representing a surge of 12.3 per cent from the previous year.
On February 21, the last day of the holiday period, 106,000 mainland tourist arrivals were recorded, representing a 1.2 per cent increase year-on-year. However, the total number of visitors dropped by 1.4 per cent to 136,000.
Wu Keng Kuong, president of the Travel Industry Council of Macau, said the number of tourists this CNY holiday had exceeded the industry’s expectations, even though the industry was aware of problems with Macau’s tourism capacity.
According to a media report, the Gongbei immigration authority recorded 2.26 million crossings at the Gongbei port, 100,000 more than last year.
The Gongbei immigration authority said that the efficiency of the checkpoints improved noticeably compared to last year, and added that the checkpoints were able to maintain order.
It attributed the improved border crossing procedure to the expansion of e-channels at Gongbei.
The Gongbei port has 191 e-channel checkpoints. During the CNY holiday, 75 per cent of the crossings at Gongbei were recorded through e-channels.
As the number of tourist arrivals increased, so did the number of taxi infractions, as reported by the Public Security Police Force (PSP).
Some 352 taxi infractions were recorded between February 14 and February 21, including 250 cases of overcharging.
Tags: macao