Visitor arrivals in Macao surge threefold during Spring Festival

MACAO, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Visitor arrivals in the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) surged 297.0 percent year-on-year during the Spring Festival holiday on Jan. 21-27, the Macao Government Tourism Office said on Sunday.

This was the first "Golden Week" holiday after Macao eased inbound travel restrictions in early January, dropping the requirement for those who enter Macao from the mainland, China's Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan region to present negative nucleic acid test results for COVID-19.

In addition, no prior approval or quarantine is required for foreigners visiting Macao.

Macao recorded 451,000 visitor arrivals in total during the holiday, with 165,000 from Hong Kong, a remarkable surge of 2,601.8 percent over the same period of last year, and 265,000 from the mainland, surpassing the government's expectations, the office said.

On Jan. 24, the third day of the Lunar New Year, Macao welcomed over 90,000 visitors, the highest single-day record since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

Industry figures showed the average hotel occupancy rate in Macao reached 85.7 percent during the "Golden Week" holiday, a year-on-year increase of 22.4 percentage points, with the hotel occupancy rate on Jan. 24 reaching 92.1 percent, the highest among those days, the office said.

The office has been dedicated to promoting Macao as an attractive tourist destination, unfolding a variety of festive celebrations including the street tour of a more than 200-meter-long "dancing golden dragon," dazzling floats and passionate performances along main roads, and glittering fireworks that lit up the night sky above the sea.