Tourism | MGTO’s mobile app receives award

The “Step Out, Macau” mobile app has been awarded the 2016 PATA Gold Award in the category of “Marketing Media – Mobile Travel Application,” the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) announced.
The winners will receive the award at a PATA Gold Awards event on September 9, during PATA Travel Mart 2016, to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The app, developed by the Government Tourism Office (MGTO), is among the 31 Gold Awards and Grand Awards presented this year by PATA to recognize exceptional achievement in seven broad categories: marketing campaign, environment, corporate social responsibility, heritage and culture, education and training, marketing media and travel journalism, MGTO wrote in its press release.
The “Step Out, Macau” mobile app was first launched in December 2013 with four walking tour routes, then upgraded in February 2015 to include eight redesigned walking tour routes, covering Macau, Taipa and Coloane.
The app, available in Chinese (traditional and simplified), English and Portuguese, offers maps of the eight walking tour routes, descriptions of the tourism spots listed by UNESCO (including the historic centre of Macau), schedules of cultural performances, information on restaurants, and bus routes. MGTO said users can also scan the QR codes on direction signs along the themed routes and obtain the tourist information offline.
This is the fourth time MGTO has been distinguished with the prestigious PATA accolade. MGTO received a 2002 PATA Grand Award for Marketing with the “Macau Welcomes You Passport Campaign”, was granted a 2007 PATA Grand Award for Heritage with its “Macau World Heritage Year Campaign”, and a 2008 PATA Gold Award for Travel Advertisement Print Media for its “Experience Macau” campaign.
Founded in 1951, PATA is a non-
profit membership association dedicated to building responsible development of the Asia-Pacific travel and tourism industry. Its members include government tourism bodies, travel trade operators and tourism educational institutions.