Macao yesterday welcomed mainland tour groups for the first time in three years – two from Guangdong, three from Shanghai and one from Liaoning, with a total of 135 visitors – who arrived by both land and air.
Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Deputy Director Cheng Wai Tong said that as of Sunday, 15 tour groups have been organised to visit Macao, consisting of more than 400 tourists.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, mainland tour groups had been suspended from visiting Macao and Hong Kong since 2020.
Cheng said that MGTO was considering subsidy promotion programmes for Hong Kong, Taiwan and foreign tour groups, with reference to the scheme for mainland China, which was announced in December last year, such as a MOP 350 subsidy for one night for each traveller from a foreign country who stays in a local hotel and a MOP 500 subsidy for two consecutive nights to local travel agencies. Chan added that the local tourism sector has been organising a Southeast Asia tour group to visit Macao this month.
The MGTO held two welcome ceremonies yesterday, in the morning and at noon respectively, one at the Hengqin checkpoint and the other at the airport, for the first two tour groups from Guangdong and Shanghai.
Meanwhile, the first Macao tour group of 37 locals also departed for Hengqin yesterday morning, The Macau Post Daily reported.
