Briefs | Xi Jinping to visit Portugal this year

The President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the European country by the end of the year, according to reports by Portuguese media outlets. De Sousa made the comments during his visit to the United States, prior to meeting President Donald Trump. “Before the end of the year,” said de Sousa, “the president of another great nation will visit Portugal.” According to the media reports, the Portuguese head of state was referring to Chinese president Xi Jinping.

IFT students design map for hotel

Students from the Tourism Retail and Marketing Management at the Institute for Tourism Studies engaged in a consultancy project to serve the Pousada de Mong-Há (Educational Hotel of IFT). The course leader, Dr. Fernando Lourenço, led students to incorporate the idea of community-based tourism to create new values for hotel guests. The aim of the project was to develop a map to guide hotel guests to explore the community around the location of the hotel. In order to do this, students researched the community and produced a database with information of all the businesses in the area, public facilities, traditions and heritage, and events. Subsequently, students developed and produced many innovative concepts for a new map. The outcomes from the research and development were greatly appreciated and the hotel manager noted that they will apply the ideas derived from the project.

HK’s Carrie Lam meets China vice premier

China’s Vice Premier Han Zheng met on Tuesday with Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam in Beijing. Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, heard Lam’s comments and suggestions on the master plan for developing Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. According to Xinhua, Han said Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau should draw on each other’s strengths and seek “win-win cooperation” in developing the greater bay area. Lam said she believed that the people of Hong Kong hold high hopes for the Greater Bay Area.

Unemployment rate remains stable

The unemployment rate stood at 1.8 percent and the unemployment rate of local residents was 2.5 percent for the period between March to May. According to the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), total employment was 383,100 and the number of employed residents totaled 282,500, both up from the previous period by 1,600 and 1,700 respectively. Analyzed by industry, employment in wholesale and retail trade, and gaming and junket activities registered increases while that in transport, storage and communications decreased. The number of unemployed was 7,200, down by 200 from the previous period. Fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job accounted for 5.6 percent of the total unemployed, up by 0.5 percentage points.

World Cup dampens Macau gaming

HSBC Global Research estimates that the first 24 days of June have yielded a total of MOP19.7 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR), adding that the last week has seen an average of MOP716 million per day, down from MOP863 million per day in the previous week. The firm attributes the slowdown mainly to the effect of the FIFA World Cup, which acts as a diversion for casual gamblers. By segment, both VIP and mass market gaming are tracking flat compared with the previous month. Gross gaming revenue last month reached almost MOP25.5 billion, up 12.1 percent year-on-year, but has registered little change over the previous two months. Citigroup expects this month to record an 18 percent growth over June 2017. With one week remaining, HSBC Global Research says gross gaming revenue for June should reach MOP24 billion. This would mean a second quarter growth of around 20 percent year-on-year.

Mainlander snatches police officer’s gun

A mainland woman has been charged with grievous bodily harm, for refusing to obey police orders and  aggressively reacting to a Public Security Police Force (PSP) officer’s inspection request. The suspect in her 30s failed to produce proof of identity for inspection upon request from the PSP officer. In addition, she tried to snatch the officer’s gun. The suspect also tried to hit the officer in the face but failed, although she eventually kicked the police officer. The woman declared that her behavior was the result of her feelings of insecurity when facing the police officer.