Macao welcomed almost as many tourists as Hong Kong during the four-day Chinese New Year holiday.
According to official figures cited by Macau Post Daily, 703,098 people visited Macao between Lunar New Year’s Day (10 February) and the fourth day of the Lunar New Year (13 February).
Meanwhile, Macao’s neighbouring SAR welcomed just 40,000 more visitors, according to Hong Kong media reports.
[See more: Year of the Dragon: Your 2024 predictions]
While Hong Kong has traditionally been the top tourist destination in the Pearl River Estuary, figures in recent years show that Macao is catching up fast, with the difference in the annual number of visitors shrinking from 16.6 million in pre-pandemic 2019 to just 5.7 million in 2023.
According to one projection, some 36 million people will visit Macao in 2024, exceeding Hong Kong’s 2023 total.
While today marks the end of the Lunar New Year public holidays in Macao, the festivities continue on the weekend, with fireworks on 16 February and a parade in the northern districts on 17 February.
