The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) will continue to promote wedding travel to enhance the city’s glamour and broaden visitor sources, despite the fact that this travel type has not mustered large numbers of travelers into Macau in the past, said MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes.
The MGTO introduced the Wedding Travel incentive program in 2015, designed to beckon visitors to travel to the city and hold wedding-related activities.
However, the MGTO so far has not tallied up revenue data from the city’s wedding travel activities, as “it has not yet mustered a massive number of visitors,” Fernandes told TDM yesterday.
“But we believe that it is important for [Macau’s] tourism to offer diverse tourism offerings, even though wedding tourism does not draw a huge number of foreign consumers,” she added.
Covid-19 has provided a fresh impetus to the city’s wedding tourism sector. It has nudged a growing number of mainland newlyweds — who had originally planned to organize wedding activities overseas— to prioritize Macau. The city is a quarantine-free destination, perfect for throwing wedding ceremonies or holding pre-wedding photoshoots due to stringent travel restrictions imposed by most other countries and cities.
Some mainland couples have opted to take wedding photos in Macau. They regard the city as a safe destination that has kept Covid-19 under control, and a home to a distinctive culture, a series of heritage sites and world-class hotels.
In a news report broadcast yesterday by TDM, a staff member who is working for a local wedding company said she is positive about prospects for this year’s business. However, she suggested the MGTO should ramp up efforts to attract more mainland brides and grooms by introducing more special offerings, such as special discounts and personalized services.
The application for the MGTO’s wedding travel program allows a minimum of 25 non-Macau participants to stay at least 2 consecutive nights in Macau. The program offers certain discounts and some assistance to brides and grooms who have signed up for it, said Fernandes.
The program is part of the Travel Stimulation Program introduced in 2015, which also encompasses Incentive Travel and Student Travel programs. Staff Reporter
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