A distant view of Ruins of St. Paul's in Macao. /CGTN Photo
With nearly 40 mega casinos China's Special Administrative Region of Macao surpassed Las Vegas more than a decade ago as the world's gaming heavyweight.
Gaming, coupled with colonial-era architecture and excellent cuisine has made Macao a top tourist destination.
"So now, up to this point in time, we are at about eight percent up compared to the year before so we are looking at maybe at the end of this year 35 million visitors," said Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, the director of the Macao Government Tourist Office.
With only a regional airport many tourists have so far had to travel to either Hong Kong or the Chinese mainland first.
The new 55 kilometer-long bridge and tunnel connecting the tourist hotspot to Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland's southern city of Zhuhai is about to change all of that.
"We're looking at the bridge as a very important part of the infrastructure to help us connect to the world. Our own airport allows only regional flights, so we obviously need other laces or other connectivity through especially Hong Kong International Airport to help us tap into the medium to long-haul markets," said de Senna Fernandes.?
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao is the world's longest sea-crossing bridge. And it is not just long-haul tourism that is likely to get a lift.
The bridge is already a hit with visitors from the Greater Bay Area and the wider Chinese mainland.
Wei and her mother have extended their stay in Macao to visit Hong Kong, a destination previously not on their itinerary.
"We are planning to go to Hong Kong as our next destination although my mother suffers from seasickness, and she can't take the ferry to Hong Kong. But this time, the opening of the bridge can give my mother access to Hong Kong by bus," said Wei.
"It's very convenient," added her mother.
Along with tourists, there are also corporate employees and entrepreneurs who can now access Zhuhai, Macao and Hong Kong with greater ease.
"This is very convenient to visit Macao through driving my own car through the bridge," said Zhao, a Macao business operator from Zhongshan, in southern Guangdong Province.
The benefits clearly extend well beyond Macao.
"The bridge itself is a very special piece of infrastructure, especially when we are talking about the Greater Bay Area, so we are of course now looking at planning ahead in terms of working with our partners in the region to go out and promote the entire Greater Bay as one brand," said de Senna Fernandes.
The bridge should cut travel times between the three cities in southern China to about half an hour, making for an easy commute rather than the much longer, weather-dependent ferry ride.??
