The Chinese branch of Trip.com, together with the Macanese government and online technology group Tencent Holdings Ltd., plans to distribute travel coupons worth a total of 176 million patacas (about US$ 22 million) for Chinese tourists to use when booking Macanese hotels.
The visitors would be able to use these vouchers through their app and “take advantage of up to 50% or the equivalent of 585 patacas (about US$ 73) at the time of booking.
The online company affirmed that the launch of the programme in Macao attracted over 5.7 million viewers. The programme caused the company to receive a total of 35.821 requests for promotional offers in Macao. It was not mentioned whether these requests were only related to travel or also to services in the Macao market.
The Golden Week in China is celebrated from October 1 to 8. Investors expect this period to revitalize casino winnings in Macao.
Since September 23, the authorities are accepting individual visa applications for Macao from all over China. Before that, only residents of Guangdong province could apply for such a visa, as the issuance of this document was suspended earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On September 1, the Macao Government launched an economic stimulus package worth 400 million patacas (about US$ 50 million), focusing on mainland tourists, which includes discount offers on airline tickets and hotels.
The Macanese casino concessionaires are taking part in a marketing campaign that began on September 26 in the Chinese capital. The aim is to attract residents to visit Macao as the market recovers from the sharp drop in tourism associated with the pandemic.
The countryside of China does not allow direct casino-related advertising. As such, the tourist ‘resort’ sector is presenting a “Macao Tourism Exhibition” as part of the “Macao Cultural Week in Beijing”.