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The number of mainland tour groups visiting Macau is dropping amid a crackdown on low-fare tours that involve compulsory shopping.
A Macau tourism industry leader estimates that the number of group visitors fell  30 per cent last month  as a result of the crackdown, although official figures are not available.
A regulation passed by the State Council forbids travel agencies from operating tours at fares below their operating costs. 
The Regulation on Travel Agencies, which took effect on May 1, says below-cost fares and compulsory shopping are not allowed, with violators subject to a fine of 100,000 to 500,000 yuan (HK$113,000 to HK$565,000).
It applies to all mainland-registered travel agencies, including those run by investors from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Andy Wu Keng-kuong, president of the Travel Industry Council of Macau,  said the regulation appeared to have been strictly enforced. He said the swine flu scare and the crackdown on low-fare tours had caused the number of tour groups  last month to fall  30 per cent. 
'Consumers are doubtful when they see travel agents raising the price for a Hong Kong and Macau tour, say, from 1,000 yuan to 2,000 yuan,' Mr Wu said.
Before May, the cost  of a Hong Kong and Macau tour was as low as 1,000 yuan, but most travel agencies now charge 2,000 to 3,000 yuan per traveller.
Last year the central government restricted mainland residents visiting Macau under the Individual Visit Scheme,   which allows travel independent from tour groups,  in an effort to stop civil servants gambling.
This dealt a blow to the city's tourism and gaming sectors and forced them to try to bring in more mainland visitors in tour groups.
In the first quarter, 1.06 million mainlanders visited Macau in tour groups, up 22.5 per cent year on year, although overall mainland visitors fell 14.2 per cent to 2.76 million. Macau received a total of 1.37 million tour-group visitors from various regions in the first quarter.
There are now fewer tourists to be seen in the area around the ruins of St Paul's, one of the most  popular attractions in Macau.  Only a few people were on the old cathedral steps late yesterday morning. 
Workers at souvenir shops in the area complained about sluggish business. Linda Chao, a  local tour guide leading a group of visitors from Jiangsu  province in the area near the cathedral ruins, said the crackdown on low-fare tours had cut into her income.
'Before the regulation took effect, I led on average 15 groups a month, but last month I led just six groups,' she said. 'The fare regulation and swine flu have both hit our business.' 
Mr Wu said it would take some time,  perhaps two more months,  for travel agents and their customers to adapt to the fare regulation. He said that under the new regulation group tourists were not spending much more than they had in the past, if their expenses throughout the trip were taken into account.
It was not unusual for tourists on low-fare trips to end up spending a lot of extra money in Hong Kong and Macau. 
'It's not that travel agencies are charging more,' Mr Wu said. 'What happens now is that you pay once, rather than several times.'
He said mainland tourists would eventually realise that the new regulation had no major impact on their overall travel expenses.
In April,  897,335 mainland tourists visited  Macau, down 13.5 per cent year on year.
Non-starters
In April, 897,335 mainland tourists visited Macau, down 13.5 per cent year on year.  
Fall for the same period in travellers under the Individual Visit Scheme was: 46.7%



Fewer mainland  tour groups  visiting Macau