Foreign tourists have made up only five percent of visitor arrivals in recent months – while before the pandemic they comprised about 10 percent of the total, local media reports.
Numbers have picked up since the start of the year, averaging about 120,000 per month since June, according to the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO)’s director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes.
Figures reported earlier in the year showed that of the 9.4 million visitors recorded between January and May – just 3.8 percent were from outside of Greater China (the mainland, Taiwan, and the SARs).
[See more: More people are coming to Macao, but they’re each spending far less than before]
Fernandes said she was optimistic that more international flights and improved shuttle bus services between Macao and Hong Kong International Airport would keep boosting international arrivals.
She also mentioned Guangdong province’s new visa-free policy for foreign tourists visiting on package tours from Macao or Hong Kong, noting that MGTO was working to strengthen that side of the market.
Macao’s tourism authorities have said they want to attract more long-haul visitors in a bid to reduce dependence on the mainland Chinese gaming market.
