More than 70,000 discounted flight tickets to Macao were showered on international markets in the first half of this year in a bid to boost tourism. That’s according to a statement from the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) cited in a casino industry media report.
Making a written response to queries from lawmaker Ngan Iek Hang, the MGTO said that the tickets were for flights on Air Macau and other international carriers, targeting holidaymakers from Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, South Korea, and North America.
The cut-price travel was funded from the 235 million patacas the government had earlier set aside to promote international tourism, and took the form of buy-one-get-one tickets, discounted tickets and special offers on multi-destination itineraries.
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In addition, more than 100,000 visitors took advantage of free bus and ferry tickets to Macao from Hong Kong, the MGTO said.
Macao has been making strenuous efforts to reduce its heavy dependence on domestic tourism, with mainland Chinese visitors accounting for the overwhelming majority of arrivals, followed by visitors from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
In the first eight months of 2024, international visitors accounted for just 1.5 million of the 23.4 million total visitors recorded.
