Macao residents’ enthusiasm for outbound trips this Christmas season appears to have recovered to 2019 levels, according to an anecdotal report from Macao Daily News.
Citing an unnamed local travel agency, the Chinese language news outlet noted that overseas Japan, South Korea and Thailand were the most popular travel destinations among residents this year, with tour groups to Japan being most in demand.
While the figures for November and December have yet to be published, the available government data certainly points to a strong growth in outbound travel. Recently released figures from the Statistics and Census Service reveal that there was a year-on-year growth of almost 45 percent in the number of SAR residents seeking outbound services from travel agencies between January and October of this year, with the total reaching 473,000.
[See more: Taking a Christmas break? Here’s where you can fly to directly from Macao]
According to the travel agency, tourism to mainland China has been popular among locals this year. Popular destinations included Harbin, Yunnan and Zhangjiajie.
Recent government data gives credence to this, as the number of residents purchasing outbound services to mainland China via a travel agency between the first and third quarter of 2024 grew by around 43 percent to 325,000. Public Security Force data also suggests that outbound travel among locals has been on the rise. Earlier it reported that 72.26 million (36.1 percent) out of the record-breaking 200 million border crossings registered as of 7 December came from Macao residents.
As well, airport passenger rates have been steadily rebounding over the course of 2024. Official figures show that it was up 57 percent in the first ten months of this year, when compared to the same period in 2023. However, this number still falls short of the air passenger total in 2019, representing a recovery of only 80 percent.
