On this day last year, the implementation of the Chinese mainland's Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) on
Hong Kong and Macao-bound tours came to help boost Macao's economy, which was just hit by the vile effect of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Since then, over 1.8 million individual travel document holders from the Chinese mainland visited Macao. According to Macao's official market survey, tourists from the mainland are the most lavish spenders on travel and shopping in Macao, who spent 2,948 patacas (US$369) per-capita, as compared to 928 patacas (US$116) of per-capita spending by travelers from Hong Kong.
Based on the survey figures, the mainland individual travelers have brought some 5.4 billion patacas (US$675 million) to
Macao over the past year.
With a population of 451,000, the gaming city hosted 1.3 million visitors in June alone, which averaged a daily number of 43,358. Tourists from the mainland have made up 57.7 percent of all arrivals.
The IVS is considered the central government's policy stimulus to Macao's tourism under the framework of the Mainland/Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), which was enacted on Jan. 1 this year. After being first piloted in four cities in Guangdong Province as well as
Beijing and
Shanghai on July 28 last year, it has gradually covered the whole province of Guangdong and nine cities in southeast China's Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces so far this year.
Prior to this, the mainlanders could only apply for group travels via tourist agencies to
Hong Kong and
Macao or on business strips. The IVS policy, however, allows residents in IVS-piloted cities to go through simplified travel formalities at local entry-exit administrations to go to
Hong Kong and Macao. One is only required to fill in an application form by showing his ID card, then wait for 15 work days to get his individual travel document. So far, the number of IVS document holders in Guangdong has accounted for over 70 percent of the province's eligible travelers to
Hong Kong and Macao.
With the IVS effect, the small city of
Macao is no longer a one-day sightseeing tour for group travelers, since individual tourists incline to stay longer than group travelers in a tourist destination.
The stimulus quickly proved its effectiveness in the second half of last year by fueling the economy out of the doldrums of zero growth recorded in the second quarter due to the vile effect of the outbreak of SARS.
Macao achieved a robust yearly growth at 15.6 percent for the year 2003.
The gaming and tourism industries are the primary beneficiaries of the tourist boom. Daily revenue of the
Macao Gaming Co. Ltd exceeded 100 million patacas (US$12.5 million) in good seasons, when hotel room occupation rate runs up to over 80 percent.
The smooth implementation of the IVS has become crucially important for the
Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government to sustain the economic growth. The government has set up a mainland tourist market consultation panel to coordinate in upgrading the local tourist resources and service. Macao's chief executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah led delegations to China's inland regions to promote Macao's tourism and the convenience of travel due to the IVS.
