Tightened health checks for travel between the mainland’s Guangdong province and Macau are expected to dent mainland-consumer demand for Macau tourism services including hotel accommodation, during the rest of this month, said the president of Macau Travel Industry Council, Andy Wu Keng Kuong, in response to an enquiry from GGRAsia.
The new controls are in response to new cases of Covid-19 infection reported in Guangdong.
Starting from 10am on Tuesday (June 8), people intending to enter Macau from Guangdong must present a ‘negative’ test certificate regarding Covid-19 infection, and it must have been issued within the prior 48 hours, Macau’s health authorities announced on Monday morning
Prior to this new requirement, such travellers had been required to present a negative Covid-19 infection test report issued within seven days of their intended arrival in Macau.
The tighter test requirement would in likelihood have a “huge impact” during June on Macau’s tourism trade, including hotel occupancy, Mr Wu said.
In the Monday announcement, Macau’s health authorities mentioned the possibility that in future those travelling between Guangdong and Macau might need to present a certificate showing they had been vaccinated against Covid-19, as well as needing a current test certificate.
The tightened immigration policy for Guangdong-Macau travel would “undoubtedly weigh on demand”, and “put a brake” on the city’s sequential recovery seen in the gaming and tourism trade over the past six months, suggested JP Morgan Securities (Asia-Pacific) Ltd, in a Monday memo.
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