Visitor arrivals to Macau during the well-known “golden week” of the Lunar New Year fell by 65.3% compared to the same period in 2020.
According to provisional data from the Public Security Police Force of Macau, cited by Macau Tourism, 90.615 visitors arrived in Macau between February 11 and 17, the period of the “golden week” of the 2021 lunar new year.
Last year, between January 24 and 31, the date of the “golden week”, the number of visitors entering the territory was 260.000.
That year, the border crossings at Portas do Cerco (54,951), Hengqin (22,986) and Macau International Airport (6,702) were the busiest, according to the same data.
Sunday was the day with the highest number of arrivals, with 17.357 visitors, down 52%.
The total number of visitors from China (82.190) fell by 44.9% compared to the “golden week” of 2020, according to the same data.
At the end of the “golden week” on Tuesday and Wednesday, visitors from China increased by 5.3% (13.110) and 22.8% (11,854) respectively, compared to the same period last year.
The Macau authorities cancelled some public shows, such as the usual Lunar New Year fireworks display, in line with preventive measures against COVID-19.
Macau was one of the first territories to be hit by the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, as it relies almost exclusively on Chinese tourism and gambling. The government has estimated a 60.9% reduction by 2020.
The territory had its first case on January 22 last year. From then on, it adopted several health measures to control the spread of the virus, such as closing casinos for 15 days, a mask distribution plan and strong border control.
Currently, Macau is considered one of the safest regions in the world when it comes to COVID-19, with only 48 cases since the end of January 2020 and no deaths from the disease to date.