Macao-HK ferry fare fillip to yield profits in June
( 2003-06-04 10:23) (8)
A three-month ferry fare fillip launched jointly by the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government and two ferry operators will help bring some 100,000 tourists from Hong Kong in June, the Macao tourist authority forecast Tuesday. Joao Manuel Antunes, director of the Macao Tourist Office, said that the authority hoped the promotion, which went into effect on Monday, could help retrieve the loss in tourism due to the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) since March. Under the fillip, passengers can get a free return ticket when they buy a boat fare from Hong Kong to Macao. The discounts will be coupled with a government-funded tourist promotion scheme worth 80 million patacas (US$9.6 million) to reinvigorate the local tourism market. The affect of SARS on the local economy emerged in March. The number of tourist arrivals from Hong Kong dropped by 403,543 between March to April, based on the figure of the same period last year. Macao is a major leisure market for Hong Kong people. The two cities are separated only by an hour of jetboat trip. According to official figures on tourism, the average consumption of a HK tourist in Macao stands at 937 patacas (US$112), which means that the promotion will hopefully lead to dozens of millions of tourist income for Macao in June, if it is effective.
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