MGTO partners Air Macau to attract more tourists from Japan

To attract larger visitor numbers from Japan, the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) and Air Macau jointly organized a familiarization trip dedicated to the tourism operators of Tokyo and Osaka, the office noted in a press statement.

The Japanese tourism industry operator representatives, comprising 14 people, have been in Macau from July 20 to 23 to experience new attractions and places first-hand.

The itinerary included a visit to the Macau Grand Prix Museum and the Lai Chi Vun Shipyards, as well as the Historic Centre attractions. Operators learned about new and upcoming hotel facilities and had the opportunity to taste various delicacies.

The purpose, according to MGTO, is to “inspire the design of more Macau tourism products targeting Japanese tourists.”

The delegation also participated in a travel mart and exchange with the local tourism industry aiming to facilitate business matching opportunities and promote the joint exploration of business opportunities.

According to MGTO, the travel mart has gathered over 60 participants including representatives from local travel agencies, hotels, airlines, vessel and leisure companies, as well as representatives of travel agencies from the Japanese delegation.

In 2019, Macau received nearly 300,000 Japanese tourists, being the third-largest international tourist source market that year.

With the lifting of border restrictions at the beginning of 2023, the aviation industry has progressively resumed both arriving and departing international flight services with MGTO hoping that through these promotion activities, more visitors from this traditional source can return to an expanded portfolio of attractions in Macau.

According to official figures from the Statistics and Census Service, between January and May this year, only 17,123 visitors arrived from Japan. This figure pushed Japan back to the eighth ranking of the places bringing international tourists to Macau, placing below Singapore and just above India.

According to recent statements last weekend from MGTO’s director, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, the office expects an increase in visitor numbers this month and in August, raising the expected daily visitor number to some 80,000 per day.