Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng says the tourist capacity of Macau is a serious problem, claiming the government would review the mainlands Individual Visit Scheme with Mainland authorities after Chinese New Year.
The Secretary announced the possible review on Thursday morning, when he phoned local radio broadcaster TDMs Macau Forum show to send Chinese New Year greetings. During the show, he indicated that the government had realised that there are too many tourists in the city, which is affecting the quality of life of residents.
He later told reporters on the sidelines of a government event celebrating the Chinese New Year that afternoon that the local government will study and analyse how to improve the travel scheme for Mainland tourists with the State Council of China, National Tourism Administration, and the governments of the Mainland provinces which had joined the scheme, such as Guangdong Province.
Mr. Tam perceives that Macau is only a small place occupying some 30 kilometers hence it is not possible for Macau to digest more tourists given the limitations of the capacity of Macau, even though the scheme has helped boost the economy of the Special Administrative Region since 2003.
Nevertheless, the Secretary said that he does not have any drafted plans on how to improve the Individual Visit Scheme.
Asked by reporters whether he hopes that Mainland authorities will tighten up the scheme, Mr. Tam said that restriction is one of the directions, claiming leading tourists to visit Macau in different periods or by different stages may also be possible, on the premise that the quality of life of Macau residents will not be affected.
“The tourists will understand [the future restrictions]. If Macau is so crowded that [people] cannot even get on a bus or cannot find a restaurant for a meal, I believe even the tourists would not like to come, he said.
On the other hand, Mr. Tam reckons that regular crowd-control measures in the area of Ruins of Saint Pauls are unnecessary, claiming crowds of tourists in the area only appear in peak tourist seasons.
In 2014, the city received a record-breaking number of visitors more than 31.5 million visitor arrivals were registered, according to the Macau Government Tourist Office, which predicts that the number of tourists in 2015 will grow by more than five per cent year-on-year.