The number of visitors arriving and departing Macau during the seven days from 18 to 24 August reached 207,000, up 43.2% over the previous week and prompting some local businessmen to express hope over the city’s border policy with mainland China.
According to Macau’s Public Security Police Force, the total number of arrivals and departures to and from Macau, including residents moving back and forth across the border, also grew to 2.07 million over the seven-day period.
In response to the increase in arrivals, businesses around popular tourist attraction the Ruins of St Paul’s said they were happy to see an increase in visitors and visitor spending but admitted they remain wary of further restrictions in future.
“I hope that even if there is an pandemic in the future, the ports of entry and exit will not be closed immediately, otherwise it will have a serious impact on the businessmen in Macau,” one man said.
“The number of visitors I believe can return to the level of business before the June 18 pandemic, but it will take a long time to return to 2019. But I believe Macau’s pandemic prevention policy will gradually relax and that in the future, even if there is another epidemic in Macau, we will not [find ourselves in the] same situation as on June 18.”
Another businessman, who owns a restaurant at St Paul’s, told IAG he was less optimistic about the future.
“Since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, business has dropped by more than 40% in two years,” he said.
“Now the restaurant industry in Macau can no longer rely solely on tourists. Since the pandemic two years ago, restaurant development has long been focused on the local clientele.”
Macau’s recent increase in visitation, albeit minor compared to pre-COVID levels, comes after Zhuhai earlier this month removed a requirement for people entering from Macau to undergo seven days of hotel quarantine.
The quarantine requirement had been put in place on 28 June in response to Macau’s first major outbreak of COVID-19.
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