Macau braces for 2.3 million border crossings during Mid-Autumn long weekend

Macau’s Public Security Police Force reported on September 26 that more than 141,000 inbound visitors entered the territory on the first day of the mainland’s three-day Mid-Autumn holiday, with total arrivals and departures across all checkpoints reaching 699,913 movements by midnight. The busiest land gateway was Gongbei/Portas do Cerco, which processed over 61,000 arrivals, followed by the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (21,800) and Hengqin Port (28,300). Air arrivals through Macau International Airport topped 9,700. Police analysts project that overall traffic for the 25-27 September break will hit 2.25 million to 2.30 million passenger movements, with the single-day peak expected today (26 September) at more than 800,000 crossings. To cope, immigration counters at key checkpoints have switched to “full-manpower” mode, opening all 424 e-channels and manual booths, while luggage screening lanes have been re-configured to segregate tour groups from individual travellers. The surge is a stress-test for Macau’s post-pandemic tourism recovery and for the Greater Bay Area’s integrated border management plan. Casino-resort operators have doubled shuttle-bus frequencies and coordinated with Zhuhai authorities to pre-process group visa information so that Mainland package tourists clear Gongbei in under 20 minutes. The Macau Government Tourism Office has also placed multilingual staff in arrival halls to steer visitors toward hotel coach bays and away from illegal touts. For global mobility managers, the operational lesson is clear: during Chinese festival periods, even short inter-SAR commutes can face hour-long queues. Corporations sending staff to Cotai conferences this weekend have been told to build a four-hour cushion when connecting via Hong Kong or Guangzhou airports. Employers should also remind travellers that the blue-coloured "e-channel only" stamp now used at Hengqin may not be recognised by some consular offices when employees later apply for third-country visas, so retaining the computer-generated arrival slip is essential. Macau’s statistics bureau will release final visitor figures next week; analysts expect hotel occupancy to exceed 95 percent and gaming revenue to register a rare year-on-year double-digit leap, underscoring how mobility flows translate directly into economic outcomes for the SAR.