250,000 gifts to attract foreign visitors

The government is proposing to entice more foreign visitors by offering a package of 250,000 gifts, including air tickets, hotel rooms and discounts for food and beverages as well as entertainment.

The new “Tourism Sources Expansion Package” follows on measures earlier this year to revive the tourism industry and, particularly, to attract more visitors not from Greater China, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, said at the Legislative Assembly yesterday.

Noting that Macau is currently experiencing tourism growth and that hotel occupancy has reached about 80% on average this year, Lei said the positive results are not the goal but, instead, serve as the basis for next year’s work.

Lei said that although pre-pandemic the hotel occupancy was about 90%, now “we have about 15,000 more rooms than in 2019,” noting that more work is needed to fill them.

The Secretary also noted changes in the type of tourists visiting Macau and that this has changed consumption patterns and other aspects that operators must be aware of.

“We have more and younger tourists. This also changes the consumption patterns.”

“We know that [in comparison with last year] consumption per head has increased 64% and this means that we have been successful with our measures and the positioning of our tourism.”

“But next year, and with the development of the economy, we will have to do more and better, based on this year’s results, and we also need to widen the sources of tourists,” Lei said.

He added, “Our goal is that these [new package of offers] can bring more tourists from abroad. This is why we have budgeted these 250,000 gifts to distribute including airfares, hotel lodging and other discounts.”

Responding to lawmakers’ requests for clarification, the director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, said that “besides the direct flights [to and from Macau] we also explore other possibilities via travel agencies from Hong Kong,” she said, noting visitors arriving in Macau via Hong Kong can also benefit from this package of offers.

Senna Fernandes said the government intends to continue to promote Macau via international media, with a campaign promoting Macau in several countries, which were not disclosed at this moment.

“We want to promote Macau more through international media. Each month we have an average of 1,000 foreign visitors daily, a figure that shows we have recovered about 70% [from pre-pandemic levels].”

Senna Fernandes also said the gifts are varied and will not be restricted to luxury hotels but “also include offers in the old neighborhoods as well as ferry trips and boat tours.”

Still on the topic of tourism, lawmaker Ma Io Fong called on the government to improve the quality of the local tour guides, especially since the government’s aim is to attract more foreigner visitors.

Senna Fernandes replied that for 2024, the MGTO wants to launch the legal process for reviewing the laws in this sector.

It is also planning to launch several training sessions for tour guides that will focus mainly on language skills, public relations and courtesy.”