Macao's hotel rooms fall short of supply
( 2003-08-26 08:56) (China Daily)
With around 9,000 hotel rooms, Macao's capacity to accommodate travellers has
fallen behind the soaring demand.
Mainland travellers have been flocking to the 25-square kilometre special
administrative region in South China under a facilitated individual travel
policy on Hong Kong and Macao-bound travel.
All of the 23 star-ranked hotels in Macao were fully booked last weekend,
during which over 7,000 individual travellers visited from seven cities in
Guangdong Province that are pilot cities under the new travel policy. More are
expected to come as the policy is set to be applied to Beijing and Shanghai on
September 1.
Tourist insiders estimated that, under the travel policy, Hong Kong will see
2 million more tourists every year and Macao 1 million more. Tourists from
Beijing and Shanghai will surely contribute to raising per-capita tourist
spending in the two regions, not only because residents in the two mainland
cities boast a high average personal income but also because they are likely to
stay longer than traditional group travellers or those from Guangdong.
Several legislators in Macao have suggested that the region's government
quickly expand the hotel room capacity. Legislator Chui Sai Cheong said that,
although Macao will have sufficient luxury hotels in the long run, the
government should encourage the building of cheaper hotels to accommodate the
needs of individual travellers.
|
