Tourism | MGTO to promote city in Hangzhou to spur economic revival

Rendering of Macau pavilions in Hangzhou

The government is set to hold a roadshow in Hangzhou from March 26 to 28 in a bid to promote Macau’s tourism offerings amid its goal to spur economic revival.
According to a statement issued by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), the “Macao Week in Hangzhou” will showcase travel experiences and commercial opportunities to locals and visitors at the Hangzhou Hubin Pedestrian Street.
The roadshow also seeks to raise Macau’s profile as a “healthy, safe and quality destination,” targeting mainland visitors for travel and spending in the SAR to expand the city’s visitor source.
The MGTO has been holding tourism roadshows in China to promote the city’s offerings – as currently, only visitors from mainland China are permitted to enter without quarantine, making it the only source for Macau’s tourism market.
As the city now only relies on such a market, the tourism bureau has been rolling out a series of events to increase the number of visitors from the mainland.
Therefore, the upcoming roadshow in Hangzhou will be integrated across fields such as “Tourism + MICE, Tourism + Culture and Creativity, Tourism + E-commerce and Tourism + Sports,” the bureau stated.
The roadshow will also feature booths with themes such as: an overview of Macau; events and cultural tourism; Macau’s World Heritage, Intangible Cultural Heritage; cultural and creative industries; sport events; as well made in Macau and local brands’ products.
During the event, pertinent integrated tourism enterprises and airline companies will present a series of special travel offers for air tickets, hotel accommodation, dining and more, equivalent to over MOP90 million in value.
Earlier this year, the MGTO released its five strategic foci to accelerate the city’s tourism recovery, aiming for a target of six to 10 million tourist arrivals this year.
This includes bolstering the “Tourism +” cross-sector integration to create a stronger synergy between Macau’s tourism industry and MICE, culture, e-commerce and sports industries.
Overall visitor arrivals amounted to 5.9 million in 2020, down a whopping 85% year-on-year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Of all tourists, almost all, or 96.7%, hailed from the Greater China markets, including mainland China, Hong Kong, and the Taiwan region.
There are still no updates from MGTO on when package tours from China will resume, as it has been in discussions with the cultural and tourism authority of mainland China.
The bureau previously noted it is not expecting international tourism to recover within this year and stressed that it is largely depending on the mainland China market.
During the recent Two Sessions in Beijing, Macau’s delegates have pushed for the resumption of online applications for the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), as the recovery of the tourism industry has been slow due to the suspension of IVS and tour groups to Macau.