The Macao government is launching on 1 September a promotional campaign to attract more mainland Chinese visitors to Macao to accelerate the recovery of the local economy.
According to the Government Information Bureau (GCS), “The campaign will provide visitors from the mainland with promotional offers covering categories including flight tickets, accommodation, and spending at local shops.”
“The aim is to encourage people to stay longer in Macao, and to stimulate their spending while in the city,” said GCS. The campaign, to be offered in phases, is in cooperation with electronic-commerce services providers Tencent, Alibaba and Air Macau.
In order for visitors from the mainland to be able to enjoy the promotional offers, they will need to reserve e-vouchers via the Macao Government Tourism Office’s (MGTO) WeChat social media account and the Fliggy travel service online platform.
The government has met with representatives of the Macao Chamber of Commerce, leisure enterprises, tourism and hotel associations, and local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to exchange views regarding the promotional campaign.
GCS also said in a statement that “In view of an anticipated increase in visitor volume following resumption of the facilitated individual travel scheme, members of the Macao public are advised to observe closely the city’s disease-control measures, in order to maintain Macao’s stable and safe environment in that regard.”
During the past few months, the government has introduced a number of measures aimed at relieving financial difficulties faced by various groups of people and businesses in the wake of the pandemic.
The GCS statement also anticipated that Macao’s gross domestic product (GDP) will decline more than what was seen in the first quarter this year when GDP fell 67.8 percent year-on-year in real terms. Macao’s exports of tourism services fell by 93.9 percent year-on-year in the second quarter.
Due to COVID-19, the number of visitor arrivals to Macao have seen a dramatic decrease in recent months. The aggregate number of arrivals in the second quarter dropped by 99.5 percent year-on-year.
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