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Chinese New Year Special Triple threat
to Macau’s restaurants but not all will be open during the rst three days of the festival
BY ALEXANDRA LAGES L
ong queues of tourists from the mainland and Hong Kong waiting to taste a traditional egg
tart are a common sight at Margaret’s Café e Nata, a bakery in the city centre. But during the rst three days of the Chinese New Year festival, expect to nd it closed. “My staff are from overseas, so I let
them go home and visit their families. This way, they will work better when they come back,” says the owner, known simply as Margaret. The law entitles employees that
work on the rst three days of the festival to be paid triple-time, as they are statutory holidays. Margaret says the increase in business would cover the extra labour costs but that she wants to give her employees a break. The requirement to pay triple-time
for working on statutory holidays puts food and beverage outlets in a dilemma. Many prefer not to open on holidays, while others add a surcharge to the bill that can be as much as 20 percent of the price of the meal. Italian restaurant Café Toscana is a
stone’s throw from Senado Square but it will also close for the rst three days of Chinese New Year. “I cannot afford to pay triple pay to my employees,” says the owner, Oseo Acconci. “I can raise prices of my menu but people would complain. I’ll lose business if I open.” Mr Acconci believes it is better for
his business to close on those days than to charge extra. “Locals will go out for vacation and the business won’t be too high. Tourists pay more attention to casinos,” he says. Just across the street, the Ou Mun
Café has a different tactic. “I will close for the rst day because it is a family day for Chinese and it is not worth it. We have lots of customers that are tourists from Hong Kong but we barely see any tourists around on that day,” says the owner, Fernando Marques.
JANUARY 2012 On the second and third days,
business picks up, so Mr Marques will open the cafe. Still, his shop will be one of the few food and beverage outlets in the Leal Senado area doing business. “I usually also give extra days
of annual leave to my workers,” Mr Marques says. Business improves by 15 percent during the Chinese New Year holidays, he estimates. “The people ow is non-stop.
We have customers coming in from morning until evening. I guess that is because some Chinese restaurants are closed and tourists want to try something different,” Mr Marques says.
Late harvest Few of the city’s most popular restaurants, least of all those mentioned in tourist guides, close during the holidays, despite the increased labour costs. On Hac Sa beach in Coloane, the
queues to taste the celebrated roast chicken at Fernando’s restaurant are expected to be even longer than usual, manager Miguel Lança says. “We only close on May 1. We are always very busy but even busier on holidays.” During the Chinese New Year period the number of customers increases by 40 percent, he estimates. The chairman of the United
Association of Food and Beverage Merchants of Macau, Chan Chak Mo, says more restaurants will close this
The chairman of the United Association of Food and Beverage Merchants says more restaurants will close this year for the Chinese New Year
year for the rst three days. “We have a lot of people during
the holidays but the triple pay issue and increases in salaries, rentals, raw materials and importation costs will [have an] impact,” Mr Chan says. “According to my experience, small restaurants that are not located in the tourist part of the city will probably not open. They cannot be pro table.” Mr Chan says those restaurants
that opened last year saw at least a 10 percent rise in their business in the rst three days of the Chinese New Year festival compared to a typical operating day. He expects they will do better business this year than in 2011. “There will be an increase because of the rising number of tourists and more restaurants being closed.” Most restaurants in casinos have
special holiday offers for the New Year festival. “Traditionally Chinese New Year
is one of the biggest holidays of the year and represents a big spike in visitor arrivals,” says a spokesperson for Wynn Macau Ltd. But the casino operator declined to say how much restaurant revenue increases, with the spokesperson only replying that they were looking “forward to another fruitful year”. The Mandarin Oriental Macau
is in a unique position. It is one of the few hotels that does not have gaming facilities on its premises. A spokeswoman for the ve-star hotel said it was expecting an increase in clientele but would not disclose its projections. All is not lost for restaurants
that close on the rst three days of the Chinese New Year festival. They usually catch up on the following days. Mainland visitors have a seven-day break during the New Year and visit Macau after spending the rst few days with their families, thus keeping the city’s food and beverage outlets busy.
Chinese New Year will bring more diners
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