The report on foreign tourism in the first half of 2023, released by the China Tourism Academy, shows that Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan were the travel destinations chosen by 80% of mainland Chinese residents during the first half of this year, with Macau taking first place, with a rate of 50%.
The report indicates that in the first half of this year, foreign tourist destinations received a total of 40.37 million tourists from China, while Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are the central tourism regions of mainland Chinese travelers, having received about 79.89% of Chinese tourists, within which Macau represents 50.9%, Hong Kong 26.66% and Taiwan 2.33%.
According to data from the Macau Directorate of Statistics and Census Services (DSEC), the cumulative number of visitors from mainland China between January and June represents a recovery of 52.7% compared to 2019, the fastest among neighboring regions.
In June alone, Macau registered 2.2 million visitors, 480% more than in the same month of 2022, but still 2022, short of the three million counted in the same period of 2019, pre-Covid-19 pandemic. Most of Macau's visitors are from mainland China: 1.4 million. In the first half of the year, 11.6 million visitors arrived in Macau, according to DSEC. The number represents 236.1% more than in the same month last year, but it is still almost half compared to the first half of 2019.
Macau, like China, followed the "zero Covid" policy, announced in mid-December the gradual cancellation of most prevention and containment measures after nearly three years of strict restrictions.
On January 8, the Chinese particular administrative region reopened its borders to all foreign visitors.