Macao has been urged to increase infrastructural investment to renovate its tourism industry, given the lukewarm mainland tourist sentiment. Jerome Favre / Bloomberg

This year's Easter and Ching Ming holidays, it seems, have aggravated the woes of Macao, already reeling from a drastic drop in its casino fortunes as high-rollers stay away amid the ongoing crackdown on corruption and extravagance on the mainland.

Like Hong Kong, Macao's tourism industry has suffered, with a snub by mainland visitors, whose number fell by up to 7 percent over the Ching Ming break, compared with the same period last year.

Andy Wu Keng-kuong, president of the Travel Industry Council of Macao, was somber as he revealed that the total number of tourists who set foot on Macao from April 4 to 6 hit just 1.15 million - against 1.25 million a year ago.

Industry experts said Hong Kong's poor showing in drawing mainland visitors has had a negative impact on its neighbor although many mainland tourists would normally take a side trip to Macao from Hong Kong.

"Almost all the tour groups do come here from Hong Kong. But, we've been hit by the fall in the number of visitors to Hong Kong," groaned Zhang Runxin, operating manager of the Hong Kong and Macao division at Guangdong China Travel Service.

Hong Kong's troubles emerged as many mainland tourists decided to give the city a miss, put off by the recent spate of rowdy, violent protests against both mainland visitors and parallel traders.

The Immigration Department of Hong Kong SAR said the number of mainland tourists dropped by about 14 percent during the Easter and Ching Ming holidays, while the number of foreign visitors went down by 6.6 percent.

"Many mainland tourists no longer consider Hong Kong and Macao to be their top choices. Instead, they prefer to go to places like South Korea, Japan and Thailand," a representative of China International Travel Service Shenzhen office said.

"The number of mainland tour groups to Hong Kong and Macao dived by nearly 50 percent during the three-day Ching Ming break," he said, predicting that it will drop further during the upcoming Labor's Day holidays in May.

"Macao's tourism capacity has almost reached its limit," Alexis Tam Chon-weng, secretary for social affairs and culture, said on Monday. "New investments in infrastructure, like public transportation and hotel facilities, are needed," he said.

He expects the number of tourists to Macao to stay at 32 million to 34 million annually over the next few years, including 21 million from the mainland.

sally@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 04/16/2015 page6)