The number of inbound and outbound trips in Macao exceeded 200 million as of 7 December, marking a new high in the SAR’s annual number of checkpoint crossings, according to a statement issued yesterday by the Public Security Police Force (PSP).
When compared to the whole of 2023, which saw 180 million crossings, the 2024 total represents an increase of 9.4 percent. The current figure is also up 2.7 percent against pre-pandemic 2019’s 190 million crossings.
Macao residents have accounted for 36.1 percent of the trips, with a total of roughly 72.26 million entries and exits. Crossings by non-resident workers totalled some 55.96 million or 28 percent of the total.
The Border Gate remains the SAR’s busiest point of entry, with 110 million crossings or 52.7 percent of the total. This was followed by the Qingmao checkpoint, the Macao checkpoint of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and the Hengqin checkpoint, where crossings amounted to 32.79 million (16.4 percent), 24.27 million (12.1 percent) and 21.27 million (10.6 percent) respectively.
[See more: Tourism chief says Macao will work hard to end the year on a high note]
PSP data also indicated there have been approximately 32.56 million visitor arrivals so far this year, a growth of 25.7 percent in comparison to the same period last year. The number also represents 88.1 percent of the total number of tourist arrivals over the same period in 2019.
Originally, the Macao government had set a target of 33 million visitors this year, although it recently revised the number to 34 million after the city’s arrival figures broke the 30 million milestone in November.
However, industry experts such as the chairman of the Travel Industry Council of Macau, Andy Wu, believe that the wide range of activities that have been planned for December could drive figures as high as 35 million or around 90 percent of the roughly 39.4 million visitors that ventured in the SAR in the last full year before the pandemic struck.
Macao’s visitor numbers are expected to grow even further in the year ahead, thanks to the recent announcement of multiple-entry permits for Zhuhai and Hengqin residents, which will launch on 1 January 2025.
