Macao is bracing for a busy Labour Day holiday, with tourism officials forecasting around 130,000 visitors a day, according to media reports.
Labour Day is a single-day holiday in Macao but a three-day break on the Chinese mainland – the city’s biggest source of visitors. When added to the weekend, it creates a five-day tourism rush.
Many are expected to be single-day visitors. When their movements are added to those of Macao residents leaving and returning to the city, some 700,000 entries and exits can be expected at checkpoints each day during the holiday period, police officials say, mostly at the Border Gate.
[See more: The bridge toll will be waived for the Labour Day holiday]
Liz Lam of the Macao Government Tourism Office told a press conference yesterday that hotels were expected to reach 90 percent occupancy over the coming five days.
The Labour Day break is expected to add to an already healthy few months for the local hospitality sector. Figures released yesterday showed that the average occupancy rate for the first quarter of 2024 went up by nearly 10 percentage points year-on-year to almost 85 percent.
Five-star hotels showed notable growth, with their average occupancy rates climbing by almost 13 percentage points to just over 87 percent in the first three months of the year.
