Tourism Development Committee convenes the second Plenary Meeting of 2024
The Tourism Development Committee (CDT, on its Portuguese acronym) convened the second Plenary Meeting of 2024yesterday(28 November), presided over by Secretary for Economy and Finance and Committee Chairperson, Lei Wai Nong.
Anticipatetotalvisitor arrivals will reach the goal of 33 millionthis year
Secretary Lei Wai Nong expressed that with the series of favorable measures for Macao as implemented by the Central Government this year, alongside the concerted effort of various members of the society, Macao’s tourism developmentkeepstrending upward.Macao welcomed over 29 millionvisitorsin the first ten months of 2024, which surged year on year by 28.1% and reached 87% of the levels of the corresponding period in 2019. Hehas great anticipationthattotalvisitor arrivals willreachthe goal of33 million this year.
He highlighted thatwiththe enormous support of the Central Government, the SAR Government has been vigorously pushing forward the implementation of the “1 + 4” development strategy for adequate diversification, which has endowed Macao’s tourism industry withthevast potential to progress forward.Bya variety of measures, the Government strives topropel tourism development towards diversification and sustainability,consolidatingMacao’sstatusasthe world centre of tourism and leisure andbrightening the city’sgolden calling card as an international metropolis.
At the meeting, MGTO presented an overview of the latest tourism development in Macao, followed by a presentation of the research entity invited to elaborate on the second-phase review study on theMacao Tourism Industry Development Master Plan.
Certain figures reach or surpass 2019 levels
Deputy Director of MGTO,Ricky Hoi,depicted anoverall picture of thelatesttourismsituationin Macao.He indicated that theaverage lengths of stayof all visitors, overnight-stay visitors and hotel overnight guests from January to Octoberof 2024have reached or surpassed the corresponding figuresinthe first ten months of 2019.
Between January and October 2024,Macao registered anaveragedaily volume ofabout95,000visitor arrivals. In February and August, the daily averageeven surpassed 110,000.Thedaily averagefigures alsoshowed asurgingrate of recoverytothelevelsof the corresponding periods in2019.Average daily visitor arrivals ofthis August even exceeded that of August 2019.
In terms of internationalmarkets, international visitorarrivalsamounted toabout1.89 million between January and October 2024, whichreached 73.1% of thelevels ofthe corresponding periodin2019. In the first ten months,the average daily volume of internationalvisitorswas6,196, while the daily average of each month ranged between 5,000 and 6,000, bespeaking a steadytrendoverall.
Master Plan supports “1 +4” in the second phase
TheMacao Tourism Industry Development Master Plan(referred to as the “Master Plan”)was first published in 2017. In 2021, MGTO completed the first-phasereview study on the implementation progress of theMaster Plan. The Officewill regularly assess various departments’ work progress,examine theobstacles and proposed solutions in carrying out the Master Plan, so as to make appropriate amendments to the Master Plan during follow-up evaluations, in parallel with Macao’s vision to become a world centre of tourism and leisure and the development strategy of “1 + 4” for adequate diversification.
The representative of theMGTO-commissionedresearch entitygaveCDT membersaninformativeupdateonthesecond-phase review study on the implementationprogressof theMaster Plan.Targeting theshifts in local tourism development, study findingsand suggestions were raised on six major issues asfollows: promotethediverse development of the leisure tourism industry, expand the diversity of visitor markets, deepen regional tourism integration, strive for sound and resilient tourism growth in steady progress, tourism product design and planning, as well as tourism innovation empowered by artificial intelligence.
Collective Wisdom deepens “tourism +” continuously
At the meeting, various Committee membersraised opinions and suggestions on the following topics:development ofthe visitor markets of Middle East, Southeast and Northeast Asia and more, supportinglaunchof more international air routes and enhancement of the Macau International Airport’s function as a transit hub, promotional measuresto attractvisitorsregardingairport transportation in the cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, multilingual tour guide training, Muslim-friendly facilities, beautifying old districts and introducingdiningelements,high-endtransfercarserviceforbusinesstravelersandoptimization measures fortour bus parking, among other issues.
The meeting attendees include Chief of Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Ku Mei Leng, and official representatives of the following governmental entities including Secretariat for Security, Secretariat for Transport and Public Works, Macao Government Tourism Office, MacaoUniversity ofTourism, Cultural Affairs Bureau, Labour Affairs Bureau, MacaoCommerceand Investment Promotion Institute, Municipal Affairs Bureau, Civil Aviation Authority and Consumer Council, along with representatives of Macao Light Rapid Transit Corporation, Limited,the integrated resort enterprises as well asthe tourism and other related sectors.
Through the mechanism of CDT, MGTO will continue to collaborate with the travel trade in capitalizing on the Central Government’s preferential measures for Macao to deepen integration across “tourism +”, promotethe integrated tourism and leisure industry development, reinforce the city’s positioning as a world centre of tourism and leisure, andbrightenMacao’s golden calling card as an international metropolis.
