GTEF to discuss new generation of tourists

Helena de Senna Fernandes (left), Ip Peng Kin and Pansy Ho

This year’s edition of the Global Tourism Economy Forum (GTEF) has established special bonds with both France and Beijing, which will serve as Macau’s country and city partners, respectively.
The theme of the event, which is now in its fifth year, is “The Growing Consumer Class, Rethinking and Reshaping the Future Tourism Landscape.” The event aims to discuss the rise of a new generation of tourists, which is said to be more independent and resourceful, creating a decisive impact and promoting change in the tourism industry.
During a press conference yesterday at the Macau Tower Convention Centre, Ip Peng Kin, chief of office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, claimed that “competition between different parties can foster our future developments, and this is exactly the aim of this Forum.”
In his opening speech on the importance of this year’s theme, Ip also said: “Nowadays, consumption patterns across the globe are undergoing a revolutionary transformation towards a new era […] both the public and private sectors are in great need of deepening their awareness on the new consumer class, reaching for a paradigm shift in both governing policies and business practices.”
“The Forum will offer a golden opportunity to turn the goal [of economic diversification] into reality,” he added.
The two-day event had a total budget of MOP45 million, an increase of 7.6 percent from its previous edition. Ip noted that the budget expenses are shared between the government’s Tourism Fund (MOP22million) and sponsors such as gaming operators, tourism and transportation enterprises, who collectively have a slightly bigger slice of MOP23million.
In her speech, GTEF vice president and secretary-general Pansy Ho said the annual Forum will be held at a different location every year in order to show attendees the many opportunities that Macau has to offer.
“It will also contribute to the creation of more job opportunities,” she added.
Ho said this year’s GTEF will include new elements such as the Experience Macau Travel Guide, which will “further increase the opportunities for restaurants and other local enterprises.”
She added that training and internships for local students are other good examples of what the region will enjoy under such an event.
When asked about visas, particularly for mainland Chinese participants – a major problem in the last GTEF –  Ho said, “last year we had a few issues, and we were asking what we could do in order to facilitate that process, since we want this event to be an international level platform and not just a local event. […] The Forum is just for these two days but we have been working on promoting the event, talking to many people and inviting speakers and people from [many] business sectors.”
“We know that mainland Chinese attendees are still subjected to restrictions and we know that this number [of mainland China participants] cannot increase drastically. But of course, if this situation continues, it will limit the effectiveness of this Forum. But I’m confident that this visa issue will have a positive development in the near future,” she concluded.
Ip added that “attendants also have the responsibility [of applying] in advance.” However, he cited statistics from past events, saying that previous editions of the Forum had been attended by people from 55 different countries and 54 representative teams from different provinces in mainland China, as well as more than 700 media representatives from China and overseas.
The 2016 GTEF will take place October 15 and 16 at Studio City.

Hotel industry decline due to competitiveness, says mgto head

When questioned about the revenues of the hotel industry sector, which were down by 6.6 percent year-on-year (more on page 6). MGTO director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said that the drop is mostly due to a decrease in room prices, a factor that ultimately “is a good thing for the competitiveness of the market.” The MGTO head highlighted the good results of the recovery of hotel occupancy rates, saying that “the number of guests have been on the rise and in the months of June and July, [more]tourists stayed overnight.” “Maybe we were used to very high occupancies of around 90 percent. but we are seeing that the occupancy rate is now in the 80 percent [range], a figure that is not low in most parts of the world,” she concluded.