MGTO rolls out spending promotions via e-payment partners to boost travel demand

To boost travel demand, the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has rolled out promotional spending deals through partnerships with major e-payment platforms serving key source markets, including South Korea, Thailand, and Hong Kong.

According to an official statement from MGTO, the bureau has, since the second quarter of this year, launched travel consumption promotions through partnerships with dominant digital wallet providers in strategically important and fast-growing source markets, including Naver Pay in South Korea, TrueMoney in Thailand, and AlipayHK in Hong Kong, with the South Korea and Thailand offers running until year-end. Additionally, the bureau revealed plans to team up with Thai telecom firms in the coming months to offer flight discounts targeting the Thai market.

Official data highlights South Korea as Macau’s leading international visitor market, with close to 235,000 Korean arrivals logged as of mid-May, up 26% year-on-year, while Thailand, the third-largest source market, welcomed over 88,000 travelers from January to April, reflecting a nearly 60% jump compared with the corresponding period in 2025.

With the goal of spurring travel and consumption among visitors to Macau, the authorities said promotional messages are being pushed to potential travelers through campaigns emphasizing the city’s acceptance of multiple local and cross-border payment platforms, while also enlisting homegrown celebrities from each source market to present Macau’s lifestyle and tourist attractions, and to film vlogs capturing its gastronomy and must-see landmarks.

Notably, Macau now accepts an extensive portfolio of payment tools, including WeChat Pay and Alipay from mainland China, WeChat Pay HK and AlipayHK from Hong Kong, e-wallets from 13 other markets across Asia and Europe, and major international card services like UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay QuickPass, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Huawei Pay.