Gov’t: Macau is now better prepared for 40m tourists/year goal

The local government believes Macau is now better prepared to receive more tourists and to reach the desired goal of 40 million tourists annually, officials said on Friday during a press conference about the resumption of mainland group travel to Macau.

“I believe that the preparation work over the last three years has improved transportation and also our services in the community. The most essential thing is we also want to improve job opportunities so that all residents of Macau can live and work here in Macau. We also want to improve the quality of life of residents and increase tourist numbers,” the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong said.

Responding to media on the same topic, the director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, said the figure of 40 million visitors is a pre-pandemic goal that remains unchanged, but it will be achieved gradually.

“The number of visitors is continuously increasing and from the gaming concessions tender between the six concessionaires, we came to know of several projects [that the new concessionaires have designed to attract tourists]. So together, we can come to the conclusion that the capacity to receive more tourists will be increased gradually,” Senna Fernandes said, adding, “soon we will develop more projects to attract tourists but of course, we expect quality visitors and tourists.”

To attract quality visitors, the new subsidy scheme for travel agencies will exclude agencies that promote so-called “free trips,” to avoid problems encountered in the past where visitors who joined these trips without paying any fees upfront were required to compensate the agencies by purchasing products or services later in designated shops.

Often this type of arrangement generated conflict between the tourists and the tour guides over the amount of shopping and expenditure required.

Thailand: first target of Southeast-Asian markets

At the same press conference, the MGTO director also revealed that the series of campaign programs from the local tourism office dedicated to attracting visitors from international markets will start in Thailand.

“In what concerns the international markets, we will start with Southeast-Asian markets. Thailand was one of the first that we considered, as it has a direct flight to Macau and from mid this month, our [MGTO] delegation in Thailand also resumes operations,” Senna Fernandes said, adding, “We are still determining the right location for the presentation sessions and the roadshow, but I can say that this will be the one that will happen very soon.”

The MGTO is gearing up for physical promotional activities in international markets, including roadshows, presentation seminars, and familiarization trips in preparation for the return of international tourism.

Senna Fernandes also said that, for the time being, the MGTO will follow a strategy based on the Southeast Asian countries that have direct flights to Macau to promote an airfare-based subsidy to attract visitors from those countries.

Currently, Macau has direct international flight routes to Tokyo (Japan), Singapore, Hanoi (Vietnam), Bangkok (Thailand), and Seoul (South Korea) as well as Taipei (Taiwan), with an additional route to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) scheduled to resume on February 14.

It is expected these countries will be potential targets of a similar promotion campaign soon.

Ctrip: Searches for HK, Macau destinations upbeat again

Following Beijing’s announcement of the full resumption of travel between China and the SARs, Ctrip data has shown an immediate three-fold spike in searches for destinations in Hong Kong and Macau, according to an AAStocks Financial News report. Browsing for package tours in Hong Kong and Macau also shot up 180%.

By the end of December, China’s tourism portal had recorded 10 times more searches year-on-year after Covid measures were loosened, with Macau topping the list of intended destinations.The city has been experiencing a tourism boom, particularly during the Lunar New Year holiday, with nearly half a million tourists swarming the city during the week-long holiday, following the loosening of border restrictions in early January.