MGTO actively progressed with a series of promotions last year (2024) to attract visitations
Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) keeps “going global and bringing in”, as the key marketing strategy, in branding the destination with innovative and diverse approaches online and offline to widen the reach into visitor markets. In 2024, the Office progressed with an array of promotional initiatives in domestic, regional and overseas visitor markets. Special offers were launched for international visitors in partnership with industry operators. Roadshows were staged in visitor markets near and far. The mega roadshow series “Macao Week” was rolled out in the Mainland continuously. Incorporating a variety of promotions on different online platforms, the marketing endeavors engaged wide attention and participation in different visitor markets. In 2025, MGTO will strive to attract visitors from different parts of the world by strengthening and reigniting the momentum of various visitor markets as well as exploring potential ones around the world. The work will propel Macao’s development into a world centre of tourism and leisure.
28 social media accounts brand the destination to 9.23 million followers
In view of users’ diverse preferences of social media in different markets, MGTO now promotes the destination through 28 official accounts on WeChat, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tiktok, X, Kakao Talk, Line and other platforms. The total of followers exceeds 9.23 million, a surge of over 45% from 2023.
MGTO promoted the destination through prestigious international media namely Bloomberg, BBC, CNN, Discovery Channel, Economist and Fortune, across Asia-Pacific region, Southeast and Northeast Asia, North America and the Middle East. The promotional video garnered 2.20 million views while the webpage received about 210,000 pageviews on BBC. Over 150,000 pageviews of the webpage and over 1.40 million views of the promotional video were recorded on Economist Impact. Continuously renewed, the destination-themed page on Tripadvisor showcased Macao’s offerings of diverse travel experiences to users in Asia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and the Middle East since mid-July.
Advertisements on search engines widen Macao’s exposure
MGTO also promoted Macao on search engines. In the second half of 2024, the promotional initiative co-launched by MGTO and Baidu gained 25.76 million impressions and 740,000 clicks. In the fourth quarter, the destination was branded through various channels on Google in Southeast Asia, United Kingdom, United States, Australia, India and Middle East, garnering 368 million impressions and 8.64 million clicks.
MGTO continued to partner with e-commerce platforms and online travel agencies (OTA) for different initiatives, including the special offers launched in collaboration with the e-commerce platform Meituan to encourage visitors’ exploration and spending in communities. A special sales activity in celebration of both anniversaries was launched together with Tencent to encourage Mainland visitors’ consumption in Macao and boost the community economy. More partnerships unfolded with various online travel platforms which conducted promotions on their official websites, social platforms and other sales channels in different markets. The destination was branded through online and offline promotions and special offers in active pursuit of different markets.
Attract visitors by “going global and bringing in”
MGTO staged the “Experience Macao” roadshows in Hong Kong, Tokyo (Japan), Singapore, Jakarta (Indonesia), Seoul (Korea), Bangkok (Thailand) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) between March and July 2024, coupled with destination presentation and networking session. The seven roadshows engaged over 1.27 million spectators.
"Experience Macao Limited Edition" garners 4.4 billion exposures
MGTO also launched the "Experience Macao Limited Edition" International Promotional Campaign in collaboration with the six integrated resort enterprises last August and unfolded a series of promotional initiatives to give out attractive prizes through an online interactive game. As part of the collaboration with MGTO, the member offamed Korean-pop girl group(G)I-DLE, Miyeon, produced aspecial singleand music videothemed about Macao. 30 celebrities and KOLs also joined the campaign to promote Macao through posts on social media accounts that reach 203 million followers in total in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, the Middle East and other English-speaking regions. The count of impressions amounted to 4.4 billion in the campaign. 10,000 users actively engaged in the game. The game was played for 90,000 times in total. 28,000 prizes were given out. Since the start of the campaign, MGTO’s official accounts on Facebook and Instagram have gained 650,000 followers more.
Over 1,500 KOLs, members of the media and travel trade were invited to visit Macao in familiarization groups from the Mainland, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, Middel East, Europe, United States and Canada among other markets last year. Their visits furthered destination branding and launch of tourism products tailored for visitors from different markets.
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Macao SAR last year (2024), MGTO launched the scheme“My Treats for You”of special travel offers for international visitors. Over 250,000 gifts were presented. A total of 520,000 special offers were enjoyed by visitors on transactions. Various special offers were popular among visitors and led to more visitations from different places to Macao.
“Macao Weeks” in ten cities reap great harvest for securing Mainland market
MGTO continued to capitalize on the Central Government’s favorable measures for Macao to progress with destination promotion. Targeting Mainland cities newly included in the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) for travel to Macao, the Office arranged for travel trade delegations from Ürümqi of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Lanzhou of Gansu Province, Yinchuan oftheNingxiaHui Autonomous Region, Xining of Qinghai Province, Hohhot of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Lhasa of the Tibet Autonomous Region, to visit Macao for familiarization tour, tourism product updates and networking session last year. Members of the travel trade from Macao and these cities discussed business opportunities and brainstormed designs of Macao tourism products together.
The signature event series of the SAR Government, “Macao Week”, were held with success in ten cities since 2020 by today, attracting around six million spectators. The events received 7.4 billion impressions on various promotional channels and enjoyed great popularity among Mainland visitors. Riding on the Macao Weeks, MGTO led Macao travel trade delegations to the cities and organized Macao tourism product updates and networking sessions there. Gastronomic promotions were also staged concurrently in partnership with integrated resorts or catering industry associations from Macao, to show the charm of Macao as a Creative City of Gastronomy. The “Macao Week in Shaanxi•Xi’an” was a success in Xi’an last August. Capitalizing on the Central Government’s favorable measures for Macao, including the inclusion of Xi’an in the Individual Visit Scheme for travel to Macao, the mega roadshow showcased Macao’s vibrant scene of “tourism +”. The five-day roadshow attracted about 330,000 spectators.
Strengthen, restart and explore markets worldwide in the New Year
In 2025, MGTO will continuously capitalize on the Central Government’s various favorable measures for Macao to progress with destination promotion, embracing four major marketing directions and strategies as follows: 1. Expand and develop diverse visitor markets and extend visitors’ length of stay in Macao; 2. Foster integrated development across sectors of “tourism +”; 3. Strengthen public-private collaborations; 4. Deepen cooperation with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin to promote multi-destination tourism.
This year, the Office continues to strengthen the contribution of the Greater China Region and Southeast Asia markets, uncover the market potential of Northeast Asia, reignite travel from Europe, the United States and India, as well as explore the Middle East market. MGTO will organize different promotional events and engage in major travel fairs in different domestic and international visitor markets. Riding on the valuable opportunities brought by Macao’s designation as a Culture City of East Asia 2025 and the advent of the 15th National Games, the Office will spotlight Macao’s rich breadth of culture and diverse travel experiences to offer.
MGTO will carry on its dedication to destination marketing and expanding various visitor markets, fostering diverse and sustainable tourism development in line with the SAR Government’s development strategy for adequate economic diversification, to enrich Macao’s offerings as a world centre of tourism and leisure and brighten the city’s golden calling card as an international metropolis.
