Relaxing the lifetime of the Covid-19 nucleic acid test is “great news for the hotel industry,” said Artyzen Hospitality Group Area Vice President-Macau Operations Rutger Verschuren for tourism-dependent Macau people.
The increase in the percentage of hotel reservations isn’t happening right away, but Verschuren said in the coming weeks, “a fairly fast pick-up is a little ahead and a slow pick-up is expected.” He added that he believes that people in mainland China need a little more encouragement, as well as being more aware of the mitigation of NAT effectiveness, in order to enable real improvement.
In addition, June is traditionally a “weak month for tourism”, but the validity period of the NAT test is “arguably a positive sign”, a good way to “see a more positive summer in front of us”. He said it was a start. Verschuren pointed out that while Artyzen “is looking for a better day for Macau,” August should be a positive month.
When asked what measures he wanted to launch or relax, Verschuren replied that the current direction was the way to go. He also pointed out the “glitter of hope” regarding travel restrictions, such as shorter quarantine periods and the ability for blue cardholders to travel and return.
However, he acknowledged that he was also concerned about the risk of another Covid-19 in the city as more tourists began to cross the border. Verschuren paid attention to the government and the people of Macau and urged them to “do everything they can to prevent the outbreak,” Macau Post Daily reported.
