Macau Hotel Association talks tourism tax with Ho Iat Seng

The Macau Hotel Association (MHA) met yesterday with Chief Executive candidate Ho Iat Seng to discuss topics and share opinions regarding the development of the local tourism industry. In the meeting, the association raised several concerns of the hospitality industry, according to the President of the Board of Directors of MHA, Rutger Verschuren, who spoke to the Times after the meeting.

Among the topics raised with Macau’s next Chief Executive were the bureaucratic processes behind licensing and permit granting, the regimes of the classification of hotel units, as well as the difficulties in recruiting enough manpower to serve the sector. In addition, the industry was keen to discuss with Ho the potential implementation of a visitor tax and its likely effect on the hotel business.

According to Verschuren, one of the most discussed topics was the issue of manpower deficiency in the SAR. The Association suggested that the government authorize the hiring of university students to perform duties within the industry as casual workers as a means of alleviating this pressure.

Without developing much on the topic, Ho noted merely that the current laws do not allow for such recruitment and, although Verschuren said that Ho seemed to be receptive to the concerns of the industry, he also did not seem keen to start a broad legislative review. The Chief Executive candidate preferred – at least for the moment – to leave such a task to the relevant government departments.

A similar message was relayed by Ho concerning calls for a more “lenient approach on the current quota policy” for the hiring of non-resident workers. In line with his previous comments on the policy, Ho said that a revision is not expected in the near future, nor would it be a priority of his administration.

However, some degree of consensus was found on the much-discussed potential implementation of a visitor tax.

MHA considers that the implementation of such tax would be “a handicap for Macau’s tourism,” noting that such idea would “damage our endeavors to offer a quality tourism experience” to visitors, especially in the arrival experience.

Ho referenced the fact that the proposal is currently being studied by the Institute for Tourism Studies that would produce an opinion on the matter in time.

The Chief Executive candidate also said that he “would like to seem more initiative from the hotel industry in holding [their own] events,” specifically sports events.

These should be held as much as possible outside the city’s peak season so that high hotel occupancy rates can be maintained throughout the year, he said, and not result in moments of intense visitor activity.