Macau Golden Week Opens With Double-Digit Visitor Growth

Holiday travel surged at the start of the Lunar New Year Golden Week as Macau logged a strong opening day for visitor arrivals, with tourism flows running ahead of last year’s pace and major checkpoints handling heavy traffic.

Strong opening-day arrivals

On Lunar New Year’s Day, which fell on Tuesday, the city recorded 147,072 incoming visitors. That figure marks an 11.5% year-on-year increase for the same holiday date, pointing to firmer early demand for seasonal travel. Data released by the Public Security Police Force indicates the destination continues to attract large holiday crowds during one of the region’s peak travel periods.

Total border movements ( including residents and workers ) reached 534,249 crossings for the day. Within that number, visitor traffic accounted for 283,065 movements, with arrivals making up 147,072 of the total.

Border gateways carry most of the load

Traffic was concentrated at the main entry points. The Border Gate processed the highest share of visitors at 52,435 arrivals. The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge followed with 35,496, while Hengqin Port handled 27,433 entries. All three crossings recorded heavy volumes as holiday travel accelerated, putting transport and border systems under seasonal pressure.

Early Golden Week totals climb

Across the first three days of the Golden Week holiday window, cumulative visitor counts approached 365,023. The running total includes weekend and early-week travel days tied to the Lunar New Year break on February 15 and 16, showing that flows built quickly at the start of the festive period.

If current traffic levels continue through the remaining holiday days, overall performance for the week is expected to come in solidly. Early indicators show double-digit growth for opening-day arrivals compared with last year, alongside consistently high daily crossing volumes.

Positive signals for tourism and gaming sectors

The early surge is viewed as an encouraging sign for tourism-related businesses, including hotels and gaming venues, which typically rely on Golden Week demand. While final holiday figures will only be available after the period ends, the opening data suggests the destination has entered the festival stretch with clear momentum and sustained inbound travel.