The Deputy Director of Central People’s Government Liaison Office in Macau, Yao Jian, aired the idea that Macau should explore the opportunity to organize air routes to the Portuguese-speaking countries.
The suggestion came during the annual meeting of the Joint Working Committee on Tourism to Support Macau’s Aspirations to Build a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure, held last week in the region.
“Macau is an important platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries and so should develop activities involving exchange between the mainland and these countries,” Yao said, as quoted by the newspaper Hoje Macau.
“[Macau] should study the possibility of developing direct flights with the Portuguese-speaking countries in a way to attract more visitors from these countries and, at the same time, give a chance for these tourists to transfer to other destinations in China.”
The suggestion seems to have come as a surprise for the local authorities. The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, commented, “it is a good idea but it’s necessary for [further] analysis. We didn’t address [the topic] during the meeting but that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to do that in the future.” RM
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