Macau should focus on heritage and leisure products

Mr Xu Jing

The Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific at the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Mr Xu Jing, believes that Macau can achieve sustainable tourism growth by focusing on cultural heritage and leisure-related products, complementing the gaming industry. In this year’s Global Tourism Economy Forum, which kicked off yesterday, Xu Jing told reporters that Macau has played a role as an ancient gateway for cultural exchange with China, and such a role should be continued.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Forum’s opening ceremony yesterday, Xu Jing suggested that Macau’s tourism diversification success lies in “building on the success of the entertainment and gaming industry, while [focusing] on two other segments: heritage and culture; and more leisure and family-oriented holiday products.”
“These three elements combined will make Macau a more attractive [tourism] product,” he stressed.
UNWTO’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific recalled that Macau was an ancient gateway for cultural exchange with China. “I see no reason why it cannot play a contemporary role [moving forward in that same direction],” he said, adding that it is already an ongoing process, as the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) is promoting Macau with that idea in mind.
Xu Jing recognized that Macau’s tourism is highly dominated by tourists from mainland China. In his opinion, the trend is visible in other regions too. “In the Asia Pacific region, tourism arrivals from the Asia-Pacific countries amount to 78 percent. As Macau belongs to China, 60 percent is more than a normal [figure],” Xu Jing claimed.
He recalled that any traffic movement related to tourism starts within a country, then within a region,. Only afterward is international traffic developed. “[International tourism] will remain with a lower percentage in the foreseeable future,” he acknowledged.