Tourists of the first tour group from Hong Kong attend a welcoming ceremony at Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 6, 2023. The Chinese mainland fully resumed normal travel with the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SARs) starting Monday, in what is expected to be a strong boost for the two regions' economic development.(Photo: Xinhua)

With the resumption of customs clearance and personnel exchanges between the Chinese mainland and the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), Macao's tourism industry is picking up pace. The number of tourists from Chinese mainland has recovered to nearly 50 percent of pre-epidemic levels, and Macao Government Tourism Office has launched a subsidy program for mainland tourists to boost the industry.

The number of mainland tourists in March continued to maintain a positive trajectory, and the current recovery situation has exceeded expectations, said Wen Qihua, director of the tourism office, in an interview with Beijing News.

In recent years, in addition to continuing to improve its core products in terms of food, history and culture, the Macao SAR has been trying to add new elements to entice tourists.

In 2022, Macao put forward a "one-plus-four" economic development strategy, with comprehensive tourism as the starting point to develop four new industries, Wen explained. The "one" is to promote the diversified development of tourism to build a world-class tourism and leisure center, and making the comprehensive industry better, more refined and stronger. The four sectors are the health industry, the financial industry, the science and technology industry, and the development of exhibition and culture.

Since September 2020, the Macao Government Tourism Office has launched a "buy one, get one free" air ticket offers for mainland travelers, Wen said. At the same time, the office has recently launched a subsidy program for group tourists from the Chinese mainland to encourage more tourists to visit Macao.

For visitors from neighboring Hong Kong SAR, the tourism office is considering extending the "buy an outbound ticket, get an inbound ticket free" discount offer to Hong Kong residents for shuttle or ferry tickets between the two regions.

It is hoped that in March or April, a special subsidy plan for group travelers from the island of Taiwan can be launched as well, in which "buy one, get one free" air tickets will be available. In sum, Macau is expected to deliver about 120,000 free tickets to tourists in 2023.

Global Times