(Yicai Global) Sept. 1 -- The government of China’s Macau Special Administration Region will issue MOP290 million (USD36.41 million) worth of consumer vouchers via the WeChat messaging app from now to Dec. 31 to entice mainland tourists to travel to and spend time in the SAR to spur tourism and consumption and promote local economic revival, Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

The vouchers will be available on Tencent Holdings' WeChat messaging and payment app. General consumption vouchers can be received through the WeChat Pay’s overseas travel package mini program. Coupons for half-off at hotels can be won through a lottery each Sunday after a reservation is made on the Macau tourism office’s official WeChat platform.

China will allow mainland residents travel to Macau following a region-by-region and step-by-step procedure, the National Immigration Administration announced on Aug. 11. Access will be granted all over the country by Sept. 23, the NIA predicted.

Macau's pillar industry tourism has suffered an unprecedented impact from the Covid-19 pandemic. The region's gross domestic product this year may return to that of 2004 or 2005, and the economy may experience a 55.7 percent to 59.1 percent contraction, according to a forecast for this year by the University of Macau.

The SAR had logged no local Covid-19 case reports for 155 straight days and no imported infections for 66 consecutive days as of yesterday.

Editor: Ben Armour