The 8th Macao International Travel (Industry) Expo is slated to take place from November 6 to 8, featuring both physical exhibitions and virtual exhibitions, alongside the debut of the ‘Pavilion of Macau’s Distinctive Shops.’
In a press conference held yesterday, the organizing entity, the Macao Government Tourism Office, announced that this year’s expo will accommodate over 660 booths.
As of October 27, around 350 exhibitors, mainly from the mainland and Macau, have registered for the physical exhibition, while some 50 exhibitors are lined up for the virtual exhibition taking place on the cloud, mainly comprised of tourism offices and entities from different countries and regions.
With a total budget of 18.7 million patacas, a decrease of 19% compared to last year, the expo will also exempt all local exhibitors from registration fees this year.
Over 130 local exhibitors are joining the expo, 1.2 times more than that of last year. The Macao Street Zone will feature more than 200 exhibition booths, 1.6 times that of last year. Local exhibitors will feature new travel products, including local and mainland tours.
Meanwhile, for the first time, the expo will bring together the physical and virtual exhibitions in the ‘Cloud’ series such as ‘Cloud B2B,’ ‘Cloud Promotion,’ ‘Cloud Contract Signing,’ and ‘Cloud Live Broadcast.’ According to the organizer, the expo has lined up approximately 50 internationally hosted buyers for virtual business appointments with on-site exhibitors, whereas 28 local industry exhibitors have registered for the ‘Trade Gathering – Tourism Business Exchange Session’ to connect with about 200 overseas professional buyers online.
Tourism chief Helena de Senna Fernandes said that the expo will limit its visitors to 9,500.
“Once the number exceeds that, then we will control the flow of people entering the venue,” she said.
Explaining this year’s budget, Fernandes added, “We are shouldering 12.9 million patacas, which is a reduction of 17.3% compared to last year. The rest of the funding will come from sponsors.”
Meanwhile, commenting on the city’s tourism sector, the official said that the current number of tourist arrivals stands at around 20,000 daily – a “big step up” compared to the previous months.
“During the worst time, we had inbound travelers of just 200. So, the 20,000 inbound tourists is already a big step up […] it will take some time to see it go back to the levels it used to be,” she told the press.
Minimum Wage Law applies pressure
The President of the Macau Travel Agency Association, Alex Lao, has said that many tour guides are in the process of altering their contracts in response to the upcoming implementation of the Minimum Wage Law, which will take effect on November 1.
“They are in the process of changing contracts. These are only operational issues. I have full confidence in Macau’s government and the travel industry,” Lao said when questioned by the media on the alleged dismissal of 200 workers from at least three travel agencies.
According to the bill, all employees, except for domestic helpers and disabled workers, should receive a minimum wage of 32 patacas per hour, or 256 patacas a day.
“We provided some assistance to the industry practitioners. The Labour Affairs Bureau also did the same. I think important measures [were put in place] to help the industry, especially people in the industry, to get through this period,” said Lao.
He added that some of the tour guides will be changing their jobs “to reduce the pressure” on the industry.
Earlier this week, the chairman of the Travel Industry Council of Macau, Andy Wu, said that in addition to the laying off of some 200 workers, about 1,000 more may see their contracts terminated.
“I don’t see a trend of laying off a large number of industry practitioners,” said Lao, noting also that the industry needs time to adjust or alter their employees’ contracts due to the Minimum Wage Law, adding “all businesses have their own way to survive.”
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