Tourism regulator to diversify visitor options

The range of options for tourists seeking to travel to Macau is widening due to several strategies, said director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes.
The policy direction was taken as numbers from the government’s Statistics and Census Service showed that visitor counts in September had dropped.
The Office is also working to change the type of travel that tourists use.
In the previous years, Macau has relied heavily on combined group tours. Tourists joining these packages travel to both Hong Kong and Macau on the single trip.
September saw a drop of 35% year-on-year in the number of tourists arriving in group tours. Numerous promotional efforts are in effect to offer more options for tourists.
Furthermore, the tourism regulator will study proposals from the tourism industry regarding support for tour guides. Such proposals include quality training.
MGTO is also monitoring the effect of the cross-border tour guide working scheme in Hengqin. Constant communications with the mainland are being conducted. AL