Our desk: Sell it to us first

João Pedro Lau

I was at the press conference for the “Parade through Macau, Latin City” on Sunday. The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) has adopted a rather quirky but interesting storyline for the parade this year involving aliens. The whole press conference was energetic and well organized and I even got some cookies and cupcakes as souvenir. But for some reason I felt that there was something missing from the event – something that was not mentioned in the IC president’s speech or the press release. Then I realized it was because the words “tourists” and “visitors” were missing.
Ever since Macau realized that it has to rely on tourists to survive, some businesses in the city have decided to focus on catering to the needs of visitors instead of serving locals. In fact, I remember when I was little, I used to ask my father if we could dine out at some famous local restaurants. However, he always told me that those places were 專斬港客 or “specialized in slaughtering Hong Kong tourists”.
Of course, they were not really killing their customers, not that we know anyway. It’s only that those restaurants were abnormally pricey because they weren’t targeting locals, but the tourists (and in that past, Hong Kong tourists) who were capable of paying more while not knowing that they could have paid less for better quality food and service.
I do not blame those tourist-oriented businesses. It is an operation model of choice, and as long as their customers were satisfied, there is nothing to complain about. Besides, as locals, we usually know which restaurants to go to if we really want good food at reasonable prices. Nevertheless, this tourist-oriented business model seems to have been adopted by more and more local shops and restaurants in recent years. Even the Macau government seems to have picked up this trend as well.
This is especially evident in some government-organized activities or events, which actually emphasize that they are there to attract tourists. Don’t get me wrong. This is not one of those “too many tourists” rants. I am not a tourist-hater (not yet). I understand the importance of tourism for Macau and that the government needs to come up with measures to attract people to visit us.
However, what I want to point out is that some government departments are basically putting the cart before the horse when it comes to making some places in the city appealing to tourists.
Tourist attractions, be it a location or an event, are not created out of thin air. Just because you want to make something appealing to visitors does not mean that they will appreciate it.
To get the tourists, first you need to get the locals. Indeed, imagine if you travelled overseas and found that some tourist spots were like ghost towns. I don’t think you would enjoy visiting them. Therefore, I believe that instead of marketing an event or a place solely to visitors, officials should first strive to make it popular among locals. Places like Rua de Felicidade and streets near the St Lazarus Church, these are regions the government is trying very hard to flood with tourists, with little result. One reason, I suspect, is that not many locals hang out there.
This is why I mentioned the parade in the beginning. It’s a good example of local event that is not (heavily) marketed as a tourist attraction, but one that welcomes residents to take part in it. And this is probably one of the reasons it’s so successful.
So, if the government wants to sell anything to tourists, it had better sell it to us residents first.