October Golden Week with 94% drop in visitor numbers

On average, the daily number of visitors was about 1,166, a drop of 93.9 per cent when compared to 2020, according to data from the Public Security Police Force (CPSP), released online.

Between October 1-7, a total of 8,159 visitors, mostly (7,939) from China, entered the SAR.

In the same ‘Golden Week’ period of 2020, which took place between October 1st and 8th, 156,300 people visited the cityterritory, a daily average of 19,538 visitors.
"Due to the difference in the number of ‘Golden Week’ holiday days in 2021 and 2020 (seven days in 2021 and eight in 2020), it is not possible to make a direct comparison, so the rate of change is compared to the daily average of passenger arrivals in the ‘Golden Week’ of these two years”, the CPSP indicated.

Between late September and October 7, Macau carried out two rounds of tests on the population, after detecting new infections on 24 September, and a new case on October 4, which forced the maintenance of border restrictions in this period between the territory and the neighbouring Chinese city of Zhuhai.

The cases led the Macau government to declare an immediate state of emergency, at a time when the tourism sector expected an increase in Chinese visitors during the ‘Golden Week’, one of the most popular travel periods in China.

Before the pandemic, in 2019, nearly one million people visited Macau during the holiday period, a total of 985,000 visitors.

The ‘Golden Weeks’ are periods that concentrate on several holidays, which this year included the holidays related to the Implementation of the People’s Republic of China, on October 1st.

The ‘Golden Week’ of October, which begins on the first day of the month, is the second-largest mass movement in China, after the Lunar New Year period, the main traditional family feast, which takes place in January or February, depending on the calendar lunar.
Macau has registered 75 cases since the start of the covid-19 pandemic and maintains strong border restrictions, including a ban on foreign tourists.