THE M3: NEW MAINLAND TOURISM LAW; DROP IN S'PORE LOCALS; MID-AUTUMN TOURISTS

09/25/13 07:24AM EDT

THE MACAU METRO MONITOR, SEPTEMBER 25, 2013

NEW RULES TO BRING A 50% DROP IN MAINLAND TOURIST GROUPS Macau Daily Times

A new Mainland tourism law could result in a 50% drop in the number of tourist groups in October.  According to Max Lau, head of the Macau Travel Agency Association, the new law will steer tourists towards “rational consumption”.  “Prices of tourist groups will increase according to the new law.  Tourists will gradually find that what they paid in the past was not the real cost of the trip.” 

Article 35 of the new tourism law prohibits China’s domestic travel agencies from “organizing tourism activities and luring tourists with unreasonably low prices, which is estimated to cause the previously under-market package rate to surge instantly.”  Furthermore, Chinese travel agencies shall not “designate specific shopping places, or provide tourism services that require additional payment.” 

FEWER LOCALS VISIT THE CASINOS: ONLY 7.7% MADE MORE THAN ONE VISIT IN PAST 3 YEARS Strait Times

According to the Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) in Singapore, only 7.7% of locals here made more than one visit to the two casinos here in the past three years.  CRA said that the vast majority of the remaining 92.3% did not visit the casinos at all.

The total number of visits to the casinos by Singaporeans and permanent residents has also dropped, in a sign that the novelty factor could be wearing off, said CRA's president Richard Magnus.

They made a daily average of 17,000 visits last year, down from 20,000 visits when the casinos first opened in 2010.  CRA also attributed the drop in the number of casino visits to the effectiveness of its safeguards in deterring vulnerable individuals from problem gambling.

LESS TOURISTS DURING MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL  Macau Daily Times
According to the Public Security Police Force (PSP), visitors to Macau during the mid-autumn festival recorded a decrease of 6.74% YoY or 470,000 visitors.  From September 19 to 22, a total of 729,614 arrivals was recorded through seven immigration checkpoints: namely Border Gate, Lotus Bridge, Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal, Inner Harbor Wharf, Macau International Airport, Cross-border Industrial Zone and Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal.  

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