Commuter crushes angst-inducing
Macau lawmakers are expressing concern about the record number of tourists who visited the city for Golden Week, the kickoff to the Chinese New Year that takes place each February. According to the Macau News Agency, visitation in February surpassed the 1.2 million mark, in some cases straining resources and causing overcrowding at entry points.
Normally, a destination would celebrate record-breaking tourism. But according to legislator Leong Sun Iok, “Several border checkpoints, namely the Border Gate, and some tourist landmarks had to be subject for several days to crowd-control measures.”
Leong suggested some solutions, including the enforcement of “pedestrian-only areas” during Golden Week and directing more tourists to newer, less-crowded attractions in the Cotai district.
Legislator Song Pek Kei also called for a “balanced solution for tourism.”
“It is true that the large number of tourists has brought us economic development and an increase in financial income,” he said, but there’s a downside: “Infrastructure and resources are lacking, and too many tourists and the rapid development of the sector will result in unbalanced social development, giving rise to strong contradictions between the demand for more tourists and the life of the population.”
Kou Hoi In and Ip Sio Kai signed a critique of tourism policies and measures designed to tackle the problem, MNA reported. “As in the past, the government has deployed more police to maintain order and control the crowds in the central area, Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro and Saint Paul’s Ruins. The tourists in these areas were pushed to follow the crowd by the same path, as if they were a flock of ducks,” the complaint read.
“These control measures are effective at dispersing people, but they reduce the freedom of tourists. They cannot stop to take photographs or make purchases—they can only follow the people in front of them, which results in a bad experience.”
Lawmakers also acknowledged the frustration of locals, saying, “Too many tourists on public roads seriously affect the commute of residents, who complain that every day on their way home, they have to fight ‘hand-to-hand’ with tourists.”
Lawmaker Chan Hong suggested that shop owners in the tourism areas keep their establishments open during the holiday season, to absorb some of the tourist activity.
“Most of the tourists concentrate in the casinos, Almeida Ribeiro and the Ruins of St Paul’s, which shows that the flow of people was not effectively diverted to other old areas,” she said.
“The surrounding areas were quiet, and even if there were tourists, the shops were closed. At Rua da Felicidade, the closure of many stores during the Chinese New Year contributed to an even further degradation of the environment, reducing tourists’ willingness to visit these areas.”
In related news, Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui says the city will take a “two-pronged” approach to increase its own capacity and strengthen regional cooperation to ensure sustainable development.
According to the Macau News, Chui says Macau will advance its reputation as a world tourism and leisure center as well as a service platform for business cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. The aim is to promote the development and “good performance” of new industries and diversify Macau’s economy.
