Macau has been experiencing low temperatures for days, but the popularity of tourism has not decreased at all. At the bustling checkpoint, the flow of people and vehicles is still surging, and long queues form in front of bus stops. According to official data released recently, the number of inbound tourists to Macau will exceed 40 million in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 14.7%, reaching a historic high. Under the influence of multiple favorable factors, the tourism market in Macau is showing a stable and progressive development trend, with both quantity and quality improving. The sign of the World Tourism and Leisure Center is becoming increasingly eye-catching and in perfect condition. According to the Statistics and Census Bureau of the Macau SAR Government, the number of inbound tourists reached a new high of 40.069 million in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 14.7% and a historic high; In the first 11 months, the average occupancy rate of hotel rooms increased by 3.2 percentage points year-on-year to 89.3%, and the number of guests increased by 0.6% to 13.313 million. Behind the achievements are both external drivers of global tourism market recovery and internal drivers of Macau's' tourism+'supply upgrade in recent years. ”Li Xi, Executive Vice Dean of the School of International Tourism and Management at City University of Macau, believes that 2025 is a milestone for the parallel recovery and transformation of Macau's tourism industry. According to customer source analysis, there will be 29.017 million mainland Chinese tourists in 2025, which will still dominate among tourists coming to Australia. The performance of international passenger data is surprising: there will be 2.755 million international passengers in 2025, an increase of 13.7% year-on-year. Specifically, short haul customers such as those from the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India, South Korea, and Japan have all recorded varying degrees of growth; Among long-distance customers, the number of American travelers increased by nearly double digits, reaching 162000. Industry insiders believe that by 2025, the traditional tourist source market in Macau will be stable, and the international tourist source will show a recovery trend, indicating the continuous improvement of Macau's tourism attractiveness. In the new year, we should focus on the construction of world tourism and leisure centers, using "tourism+" as the engine to further promote the quality and upgrading of the tourism industry. The integration of culture and tourism is flourishing. Mr. Li, a Beijing tourist, often comes to Macau for family visits. In his view, Macau embodies the concentration of the past and modernity, the integration of Eastern and Western cultures, and has its unique characteristics. Although the area is not large, it is worth savoring carefully. Mainland tourists are the main force of tourism to Australia, and will continue to grow in 2025, with a year-on-year increase of 18.5%. Among them, the neighboring city of Zhuhai has seen a rapid increase in passenger traffic, reaching 58.1%. Under its driving force, the number of tourists in 9 cities in the Pearl River Delta of the Greater Bay Area increased by 23.7% year-on-year to 14.828 million. Behind the strong growth figures are the successive measures introduced by the central government to benefit Macau: expanding the number of "individual travel" cities from mainland China to Macau; The implementation of the "one week trip" and "one visa, multiple trips" policies for tourism from Zhuhai and Hengqin to Macau; Promote the application of intelligent customs clearance at ports such as Hengqin in Zhuhai and the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge. The series of policies provide strong institutional guarantees for the development of Macao's tourism economy and regional tourism integration. ”The Chairman of the Macau Tourism Association, Zhang Jianzhong, said that the Macau tourism industry actively participates in the integration of culture and tourism in the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, and the "multi stop" cross-border tourism model has become a benchmark for the integration of culture and tourism in the Greater Bay Area, combining Macau with Hengqin. Kebiyun also benefits from the strong promotion of the "tourism+" engine: from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, large-scale cultural and sports events are held one after another, and "tourism+events" continue to boost popularity and business atmosphere; Film and television works such as "Wind and Tide" and variety shows have become popular on the internet, and the combination of "tourism+film and television" has made related topics highly popular; Nearly 20 restaurants have been awarded Michelin star ratings, enhancing the cultural symbol influence of "tourism+cuisine". The international market has unlimited potential. This is my first time coming to Macau, and the diverse culture and cuisine here are very attractive to me. ”At the end of the year and the beginning of the year, Thai tourist Ginny and her family came to Macau for vacation. She said that Macau is only a two-hour flight away from Thailand and the climate is also very comfortable, making it a great tourist destination. The international tourist data for Macau in 2025 is impressive, recording double-digit growth, especially for Thai and Japanese tourists, who increased by 38.1% and 26.1% respectively year-on-year. In the past year, the Tourism Bureau of the Special Administrative Region Government has continued to expand its overseas customer base and enhance Macau's cultural and tourism business card: actively participating in international tourism exhibitions and promoting in markets such as Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East; Free direct bus and ferry tickets attract international tourists to visit Australia via Hong Kong; Collaborate with international creators to launch short dramas to boost overseas traffic, etc. Zhang Jianzhong believes that Rio Tinto's international customer base is an important measure for the development of Macau's tourism industry, and has continued to achieve results. In the future, it is still necessary to optimize the customer source structure, while deeply tapping into the potential of the Northeast and Southeast Asian markets, vigorously developing customer source markets such as Portuguese speaking and Spanish speaking countries. Looking ahead to this year, the industry expects the number of tourists visiting Australia to increase by about 5% -8% on the basis of 2025. For Macau, which has only 33.3 square kilometers, how to solve the problem of tourism carrying capacity has attracted much attention. The challenge of carrying capacity may shift from 'overall anxiety' to 'spatiotemporal governance', with a focus on spatial diversion, time off peak, and fine governance, to transform the social cost of 'high passenger flow' into visible benefits for community renewal and improvement of people's livelihoods. ”Li Xi said. (New Society)