Our Desk | Tourism! Which Tourism?

Renato Marques

Last October, the government set up a committee to help advance the transformation of Macau into a “World Centre for Tourism and Leisure” (WCTL).
The information was released in an Executive Order published on October 28 in the territory’s Official Gazette (BO).
The “task force” includes ten high-official representatives and is chaired by the Chief Executive himself. It was named the Committee for Development of the World Centre for Tourism and Leisure and, according to the same document, is “responsible for drafting a blueprint plan for tourism development for the next five years.”
The Committee’s “modus operandi” includes conducting research and advising on policies to help transform the territory into this “wanted” center.
It additionally stated that the new body would simultaneously set up a mechanism to review the plan annually.
The Executive Order also states that “the chairman of the Committee may invite experts in different fields, and representatives from the public and private sectors, to join the works of the Committee or its meetings whenever deemed necessary.” It may also give powers to the CE’s office to “provide administrative, technical and logistic support.”
Even if these topics do not raise many questions or doubts, there are, in fact, two very big questions in my head: what does “World Centre for Tourism and Leisure” mean? And what is missing from Macau that would make it a WCTL?
I don’t think I am shocking anyone by saying that I consider Macau to be a fully-fledged world city where residents mix with foreigners, with a name established and recognized worldwide, which also plays a significant role both in this area of the globe and in the world. Saying this, I think we have the “World Centre” part sorted out.
Let’s focus on the missing bit: “Tourism and Leisure”. So what is the biggest economic sector in Macau? I do not think that there is any doubt on that matter, with the gaming tourist-related activities having been responsible for a total contribution of 87.6 percent of the territory’s GDP (MOP422 billion) in 2014, according to the annual report from the World Travel & Tourism Council titled Travel & Tourism Economic Impact, Macau 2015. The same report forecasts that this economic sector will grow by another 3.3 percent in 2015, and by 4 percent in 2025 to MOP643,131.0 million, by which time it will represent 89.6 percent of the GDP.
This takes me back to my second question, but with a different approach. If we are apparently already a WCTL, maybe what we want is not to be a WCTL but to be it in a different way. If this is the case, what kind of tourism are we talking about? Or more, what kind of tourism are we aiming for?
Honestly, I do not have any clear idea, or can even forecast, what kind of “blueprint plan drafted for the tourism development for the next five years” that this new Committee can make. And when will they be able to present it?
Based on my experiences in life and what nature shows us through what we call the “second law of thermodynamics”, all things tend to entropy, to a kind of balance or even distribution. That law is also based on two premises: “dynamics” and “time”.
So what, in my opinion, should be the role of a government? Simple, to be a kind of “catalyst” for this (physical and chemical) reaction.
Instead, the latest developments seem to put the Macau government in the role of “designer” of Macau society, trying to control all variables to play in our (their) favor.