Representatives of Macau’s tourism industry have revealed they are still awaiting approval from mainland China for the resumption of tours to Macau, despite having previously predicted the return of tour groups from the start of November.
Macau Travel Industry Council president Andy Wu Keng Kuong said Sunday that the official approval from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for the reopening of tours from “four provinces and one city” had not yet been received.
“The travel industry is looking forward to the reopening of tours from the mainland, but it is not yet known when the reopening will actually take place,” he said.
China’s National Immigration Administration announced on 1 November that it had officially resumed the use of the smart visa facility, through which mainland residents can apply for group tours and individual travel visas to Macau. One industry representative also stated recently that a tour group from neighboring Guangdong Province had already been locked in for November.
But Wu said this tour was likely independent mainland travelers coming to Macau to join a local tour.
“The tourism industry is getting to know the [latest developments], but generally speaking, we will not receive tour groups from the mainland to Macau [until they are approved].”
The Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes also told TDM on Sunday, “MGTO is aware of the situation of tour groups, but the reopening of the four provinces and one city in the mainland is still pending confirmation from the mainland.”
Macau’s Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng was the first to reveal the impending resumption of eVisas and package tours at a press conference in September, stating the first phase of the tours would reopen for four provinces and one city in Guangdong, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Fujian.
However, a recent uptick of COVID-19 cases across the mainland has largely affected the desire of mainland tourists to travel, despite the fact that immigration clearance between Macau and Zhuhai was reintroduced on 5 November with a 48-hour negative nucleic acid test requirement.
There were 5,500 confirmed cases in mainland China on Sunday including 2,000 cases in Guangdong Province alone. The Guangdong outbreak has seen the entire Haizhu district, a busy area in Guangzhou, placed under lockdown with public transport suspended and people restricted from going out.
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