This Jan 30, 2020, photo shows a general view of Macao city is seen from the observation deck of Macao Town. (Philip FONG / AFP)

Flight and trip bookings by Chinese mainland tourists to the Macao Special Administrative Region are showing robust growth for the summer vacation months of July and August after the SAR eased COVID-19 test rules for quarantine-free travelers this month.

Data from the Macao Government Tourism Office show the average number of daily visitors to Macau in June was above 10,000

Bookings for flight tickets from the mainland to Macao in the summer almost doubled from those for May and June, and increased 130 times year-on-year, according to data from Ctrip, an internet-based travel agency.

Hotel bookings for the summer by mainland visitors in June rallied more than 15 times over the same period for last year on the Ctrip platform. The top five source cities were Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Chengdu.

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The data shows that family trip orders recorded the highest surge, increasing 38 times compared with last year’s summer vacation.

The increase comes after the Macao government on July 10 started to accept a COVID-19 test certificate issued within seven days of arrival, rather than 48 hours according to the previous requirement.

Data from the Macao Government Tourism Office show the average number of daily visitors to Macau in June was above 10,000 and it is expected to reach 30,000 to 40,000 in July and August.