Hengqin a Big Hit

Fri, Feb 14, 2014

Hengqin Island’s first tourist attraction—a theme park with a supporting resort hotel—is less than a month old and already it’s proving a massive success. What does this mean for neighboring Macau? Possibly as many as 1 million more tourists this year alone.

The new Chimelong International Ocean Resort on Hengqin Island adjoining Macau has drawn about 500,000 visitors since it opened on January 28.

Ownership said the resort had up to 80,000 visitors a day during the Lunar New Year holidays and that most were independent travelers from Zhuhai and elsewhere in the Pearl River Delta region.

Investment brokers Stern Agee expect that up to 20 percent of tourists heading to Hengqin will also visit Macau, a number that could translate to as many as 1 million additional visitors in 2014 alone, based on the firm’s estimated annual visitation to Hengqin of 5 million.