MGTO 2019 forecast | GP Museum and research on HKZMB are priorities

The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) announced yesterday the four major tourism goals for 2019. The director of MGTO, Helena de Senna Fernandes announced at a session held yesterday that sought to review the works done in 2018 and launch the 2019 tasks. The completion and opening of the new Grand Prix Museum and a research study on the challenges and opportunities arising from the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HKZMB) are two of the top priorities.

Questioned by the media on the importance of the works related to the HKZMB, Senna Fernandes said, “the HKZMB is very significant. Our data shows that in a very short period [since the opening on October 24 until the end of 2018] over 1 million visitors entered Macau via the Bridge.” She also noted that during this period, the HKZMB had already become the second largest port of entry after the Border Gate checkpoint.

As she further explained, “we are going to have some research on visitor behavior to formulate promotion strategies [for the Bridge].” These studies should also include some regional cooperation, specifically with the neighboring region of Hong Kong.

“We will be working on the possibility to make the bridge more accessible, especially in what concerns the Hong Kong airport to make it easier [to use] by the visitors,” she concluded.

In response to questions on reports of illegal activities making use of the HKZMB, namely group tours using non-registered tour guides in the trips to Macau, the director of MGTO said that there were several inspections conducted on this matter, but “so far we haven’t prosecuted anyone. We have been cooperating with the tourism department of Guangdong province and we already decided that we would strengthen our inspection at different checkpoints, but at this moment we have not seen as many [cases] of these unlicensed tour guides as before.”

As for the other of the major goals for the year regarding the completion of the Macau Grand Prix Thematic Museum, Senna Fernandes noted, “we want to speed up the renovation [works] progress so that by the end of the year the museum will be ready to receive visitors.”

Further addressing the topic, namely regarding the total cost of the project, the deputy director of MGTO, Ricky Hoi, said, “last year we already requested the budget of MOP380 million for the construction works of the GP museum. Of course, besides the construction we will also need equipment which is not included on that initial budget.” He also noted, “we must understand that this [new GP Museum] will be six times bigger than the old GP Museum and it will not only showcase the traditional exhibitions [as was the case in the former one] but will also include some aspects of new technologies and interactivity such as ‘AR’ [Augmented Reality] and ‘VR’ [Virtual Reality] experiences.”

Hoi, who is responsible for the project at MGTO added also, “We are now finalizing the list [of features] that we are going to have in the museum and only after that we can have a final budget.”

In his final remarks on the topic, Hoi recalled that there is an amount included in this year’s Public Investment and Development Plan (PIDDA)  for the MGTO of over MOP247 million, in which is included the budget for such equipment, “but we don’t expect to spend all this.”

In relation to other events which will occur this year, Senna Fernandes noted, “this year we will also have the year of China in Portugal so we will carry on a large scale promotion in Portugal.”

As she explained, this promotion will be hosted together with Portuguese travel agencies, “in order to increase the number of travellers from Portugal to Macau.” Renato Marques

CNY visitors expected to increase between 8 to 9 percent

THE DIRECTOR of MGTO, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said yesterday that the government is expecting a surge in visitors during the Chinese New Year (CNY) period of between 8 to 9 percent. Senna Fernandes was replying to media questions after the presentation of the Tourism Work Plan for 2019 when she said. “The Public Security Police Force also said a few days ago that they expect a 3 to 4 percent increase. According to Helena de Senna Fernandes, “this will be the first CNY after the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, so we expect the increase to be higher than in previous year.”