Lawmakers backing population’s objections to tour groups

Several lawmakers expressed yesterday, during the period before the agenda at the Legislative Assembly, their support for the popular opinion about the exaggerated number of visitors coming via tour groups, namely those of very low cost or free of charge.

Lawmakers Ella Lei, Ma Io Fong, and Ron Lam were among those who criticized the system currently in force which they say is “repeating the same mistakes committed in the past.”

Lam noted several very low cost tours, giving the example of a 10-day tour that included visits to Hong Kong, Macau, and other cities that cost little more than RMB2,000, that is, slightly over RMB200 per day, and included transportation, accommodation, and meals.

Noting the many complaints of residents in the last few days on this topic, Lam also noted the very low quality of service provided by the travel agencies that provide these tours forcing visitors to form long lines for meals and to eat on the street’s sidewalks, a situation that not only affects the livelihood of the residents but also of the tourists and their image of Macau.

Lam also noted the huge traffic jams caused by illegally parked tour buses that disrupt the life of the city and that are not a new occurance, noting that the government, namely the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) did not learn from the pre-pandemic experience to change its attitude regarding the free and low-cost tours that have caused many problems and conflicts in the past.

Noting the subsidies currently attributed by the MGTO to these groups, the lawmaker added, “if the government spends a lot of money, but only manages, in return, to attract excursions at low or even zero cost, this will not be the right path to follow! What are the criteria or methods adopted by the government to exclude “zero-cost tours” from the subsidy plan? What concrete measures does the government have to combat low-cost tours? Are the low-cost tours that have recently affected the lives of the people of Macau included in the list of subsidies granted by the government or not?” he inquired, calling on the government to provide a clear response.

The issue of the low-cost or free-of-charge tours was also addressed by Ma who noted that the “quick recovery of the tourism sector” is a heavy burden to carry for the population.

Ma also noted the several illegal tour guides discovered by the authorities, as the director of MGTO, Helena de Senna Fernandes, acknowledged earlier this week.

Lawmaker Ma remarked that with the reactivation of the previous flawed system that caused several problems in the past, it is expected that disputes involving visitors and tour guides will happen again, tarnishing the image of Macau and being contrary “to the long terms goals of tourism sector development.”

For Ma, it is necessary to “elevate” the quality of tourism so that the strategic goal of the “1+4” established by the government can be achieved and that the population can benefit from it.

Ma suggested the authorities reinforce the inspection and increase the standards of the current platforms to attract tour groups.

He also proposed a special award to be implemented in the tour guide field to praise those that contribute de facto to the promotion and good image of local tourism.

Also noting the disruption in traffic and illegal parking of tour buses, lawmaker Ma called on the government to optimize the facilities and services to ensure that quality services can be provided, including the establishment of designated points for pick-up and drop-off of tourists to prevent the current issues that arise from certain anarchy in the process.

Also on the topic, lawmaker Lei noted the continuing use of public transportation by tour groups (a known problem from the past), calling on authorities to be more effective in their inspections and not to “turn a blind eye” to violations in the name of an alleged “economic benefit.”