The Secretary for Security, Mr Wong Sio Chak, today said that traffic at boundary crossing checkpoints in Macao had flowed in a smooth and orderly manner so far during the Labour Day holiday period.

The holiday period – a peak travel season for the mainland – was expected to deliver strong visitor numbers to Macao, the police in Macao had made extensive arrangements well in advance to ensure there were sufficient officers to maintain security and public order, and ensure a pleasant journey in each direction for local residents and for visitors.

Speaking to reporters during a public event this afternoon, Mr Wong said Macao saw on Sunday (30 April) an aggregate of more than 570,000 movements inbound and outbound. Of the tally, some 130,000 were inbound visitors, representing the highest daily number since the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the Border Gate Checkpoint received a great many of the visitors, the nearby Qingmao Port had played an important role in diverting visitor traffic. The police had increased their patrolling at popular tourist attractions, and there had been effective crowd-control management in those areas, said Mr Wong. He stressed the police had not, during the holiday period, halted their effort against “parallel trading”.

The Secretary said the police had made advanced arrangements to cope with the travel peak for the Labour Day holiday period. Administrative officers had been assigned to front-line roles, and checkpoint supervisors had strengthened monitoring regarding the flow of travellers.

The pace of movement of Macao-registered vehicles heading to the mainland via the “Northbound Travel for Macao Vehicles” scheme had been satisfactory, thanks to measures put in place to cope with massively higher than normal volumes.

As visitor numbers had increased significantly, the local gaming and related industries had benefitted in terms of business recovery, said Mr Wong. During that recovery process, the security authorities would stay vigilant and keep a lookout for any factors that might hinder community security. The security authorities would also adjust their deployment and enforcement strategies in a timely manner, in order to maintain stability within the community, said Mr Wong.