MGTO closes Lisbon office to save money

The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has closed operations at its office in Lisbon, Portugal, in the hopes of streamlining operations and human resources, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, the MGTO director, has said.
Officially known as the Tourism Information and Promotion Centre, the MGTO Lisbon office was originally intended to be a short-term establishment. The office was opened in 2005, under the administration of the Special Administrative Region’s first Chief Executive, Edmund Ho.
The office’s operation has been extended several times beyond its originally intended duration, as the MGTO had been transferred from the Social Affairs and Culture branch to the Economy and Finance branch.
Macau operates a trade and economic office in Lisbon, currently headed by former Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam. Although the trade and economic office is directly under the Chief Executive’s administration, it’s logical for the trade office to oversee tourism businesses as well.
Furthermore, the MGTO operates an office in London, U.K., which, before the closure of the Lisbon office, oversaw the entire Europe except Portugal. Now, the U.K. office will also oversee tourism promotion in Western Europe. AL

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