Asia’s Gambling City is Happy, Invaded by Indonesian Tourists

Macau, the Asian gambling city, is in high spirits. It used to be a ‘ghost city’, now tourists are starting to come to invade the city, the top ranks including from Indonesia.

2023 will be a new chapter for Macau. Mainland China, which is known as the City of Asian Gambling, is starting to be flooded with Asian tourists after being battered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to data from the Macau tourism authority, the majority of visitors arriving in January 2023 came from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Reflecting on the situation during the pandemic, now Macau doesn’t want to rely solely on casinos. Now, Macau is making a gambling and gastronomic tourism strategy that combines culinary arts with art, especially Portuguese restaurants, which can support each other.

“The government realizes that they can’t focus their tourism only on casinos and (tourists from) mainland China. Gastronomy is one of the big potentials,” said distillery businessman Dan McAulay, quoted from CNNWednesday, (22/3/2023).

McAulay isn’t the only entrepreneur using the slowdown in tourism during the pandemic to rethink his business model. Asai, a Portuguese restaurant and cafe businessman in the area, also follows the same strategy.

As a former Portuguese colony, colonial culture cannot be separated from Macau. Asai said that currently there are many Portuguese restaurants that have been circulating in Macau, so it needs strength to strengthen the position of the restaurant. He is also trying to combine Portuguese food with some adjustments.

“Competition is high for Portuguese restaurants, but many are localized versions of Portuguese food with a twist,” said Asai, who has been in Macau for 18 years and survived the pandemic.

“We are trying to offer a more traditional and unique experience. This is a niche and it helps us survive the pandemic,” he added.

Macau has indeed opened itself up from February 2023. The city removed the mask policy on February 26. However, for now, tourism is largely regional.

In January 2019, 3.4 million tourists came to Macau, mostly from mainland China. As of January 2023, 1.4 million were visited, mostly during the Lunar New Year holidays.

Macau-based airline Air Macau continues to increase capacity to add more flights from Singapore and Taipei, the region’s two biggest markets. More China routes will reopen on March 26.

Other low-cost Asian carriers such as Cambodia Airways and Thai Vietjet are also returning Macau to their travel network

“Everyone expects (tourism) to bounce back, but in talking to all our friends at the hotels and casinos they said their fourth quarter predictions are getting back up quicker than they expected,” McAulay added.

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