Recently, according to data released by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), the number of Hong Kong tourists received by Macau during the Golden Week dropped by 8.9% year-on-year, prompting the industry to worry whether Macau is at risk of losing the Hong Kong tourism market. In response to this phenomenon, Prof. Glenn McCartney, Associate Professor of the Department of Integrated Resort and Tourism Management of the University of Macau, was interviewed by The Macao News and expressed a different view. He believes that Macau’s attraction to Hong Kong tourists remains strong and pointed out the long-term competitive advantages that Macau possesses in a number of areas.
Prof. Glenn McCartney pointed out that Macau received 7.2 million Hong Kong tourists last year, accounting for 21% of the total number of visitors, and that Hong Kong is still the second largest source market after the Mainland. He opined that against the background of the current overall visitor arrivals, the drop in figures did not have a “material” impact, and that there was still a need to continue to collect and analyze relevant data in order to more accurately assess the changing trend of Hong Kong’s visitor market.
“Anywhere in the world with that sort of level of visitation is a very important visitation number.”
Prof. Glenn McCartney also analyzed Macau’s competitive edge over its neighboring city Shenzhen. He pointed out that although Shenzhen has attracted a large number of Hong Kong tourists with lower prices and abundant shopping and dining options, Macau has unique attractions in terms of tourism resources, history and culture, and integrated resorts. In particular, the integrated resort industry, which combines various leisure and entertainment facilities with casinos, still has a strong appeal to Hong Kong tourists. In addition, Prof. Glenn McCartney emphasized the longstanding ties and history between Macao and Hong Kong. The opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has also made transportation between the two places more convenient, further reinforcing Macao’s position as an important destination for Hong Kong tourists.
However, Prof. Glenn McCartney also pointed out that in terms of medium to long term development planning, Macau needs to focus on branding and image building, which will help people understand the depth of its tourism offerings. He opined that enhancing the visibility and influence of Macau through strengthening marketing and publicity would attract more Hong Kong tourists to visit the city. This would be of great significance to Macau in consolidating and expanding the source market of Hong Kong tourists in the future.
