Slowly recovery in Macau despite Individual Visit Scheme

Only 14,100 tourists from mainland China arrived in Macau after authorities resumed visa issuance for Chinese tourists under the Individual Visit Scheme

The Pubic Security Police Force in Macau said that only 14,100 tourists from mainland China arrived in Macau after authorities resumed visa issuance for Chinese tourists under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS). 

The IVS was lifted for visitors coming in from Zhuhai on 12 August. The announcement included the lifting of IVS suspension for Guangdong province scheduled on 26 August and for the rest of China on 23 September.  

Visa issuance under IVS to Macau was suspended in January to curb the spread of the COVID. 

The count is about 13,500 arrivals from mainland over Saturday and Sunday, the first weekend after resumption of Individual Visit Scheme issuance, compared to only around 11,200 collectively on the weekend before that. Only around 20.5 percent increase in visitation.  

The last five months saw Macau recording zero community transmissions when it came to COVID-19.

Macau’s gaming industry was hit by COVID during its peak holiday season Lunar New Year, with about 149,000 visitors coming in from mainland China compared to 899,000 for the same period last year. Overall, Macau saw a drop of 78.1 percent in number of tourists for the entire 7 days of the Chinese New Year celebration for this year compared to last year.   

Further, during its Labor Day weekend, Macau only saw 600 tourists coming in for the first 2 days compared to 437,000 visitors last year.  

In March, Macau government issued e-voucher worth MOP3,000 for its residents to stimulate the state’s economy due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  

The SAR’s economy relies heavily on its gambling industry. It is dubbed as the World’s Casino Capital, surpassing Las Vegas in the US in terms of revenue.

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