Inside Asian Gaming

IAG APR 2023年4月 亞博匯 36 was operating just nine round trips per day with the first not departing Hong Kong until 9.30am (and first return trip at 11am). Regular travelers describe these ferries as being “packed like sardines”. Andy Wu, President of the Macau Travel Industry Council, told IAG that inbound ferry services were still running well below 50% of 2019 levels, with visitation further impacted by the fact that Hong Kong International Airport has not been fully restored either. “International visitors to Macau rely on Hong Kong airport, but it has not fully recovered with capacity, and manpower is still insufficient,” Wu said. Likewise, international flights to Macau in March reached only around 10% of those in 2019, while flights from mainland China were sitting at about 50%. Flights from Taiwan, which numbered five to six per day pre-COVID, have yet to progress beyond a single daily flight. On a positive note, Wu believes visitation to Macau can reach 30 million in 2024 – around 75% of the 39.4 million who entered in 2019. “The spending power of 30 million visitors in 2024 will be more than the 2019 level, and the length of stay of visitors is now longer than before, judging from the post-opening situation,” Wu said. COVER STORY