Press Release of MGTO’s 2006 Press Conference “Join Hands to Bring Macau Tourism to the Next Level”

The Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) held a press conference and a lunch reception for the media and the tourism trade on January 11 (Wednesday). Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Dr. Chui Sai On, attended the press conference and delivered a speech. Director of MGTO, João Manuel Costa Antunes presented a summary on the work and achievements of the tourism industry over the past year and outlined the objectives and strategies for the year ahead at the press conference. Speaking at the press conference, Secretary for Social Affairs & Culture Chui Sai On considered 2005 a fruitful year for the tourism industry, with total visitor arrivals of 18.7 million. This achievement, which represents 12% growth over 2004, sets 2005 a record-breaking year. He also pointed out that a number of major events held last year, including the successful hosting of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Annual Conference in April, the inclusion of the “Historic Centre of Macau” in UNESCO’s World Heritage List in July with the support of Central Government and the 4th East Asian Games in October, have significantly raised the profile of Macau globally while boosting the development of Macau’s tourism industry. To capitalize on the World Heritage brand effect of the “Historic Centre of Macau” and strengthen Macau’s appeal as a “City of Culture”, Secretary Chui noted that MGTO has set 2006 the “Macau World Heritage Year”. A “2006 Macau World Heritage Task Force” was set up at the first general meeting of the Commission for Tourism Development in 2006 held last week to encourage close cooperation with Macau residents to promote Macau’s heritage legacy to the visitors. He added that in line with the “Macau World Heritage Year” campaign, the world’s largest remote controlled and LIVE broadcast camera network, earthTV, has started broadcasting the spectacular sights of the “Historic Centre of Macau” from 20th December 2005 to a worldwide audience from over 35 countries and regions. He expressed that the policies of “Macau Tour” and the “Individual Visit Scheme” have manifested the steadfast support of the Central Government on tourism development of Macau. Mainland China continued to be the leading source of visitors to Macau. Among the total visitor arrivals of 18 million last year, 10,460,000 are Mainland visitors, who accounted for 56% of total visitor arrivals and have recorded a significant growth of 9.9%. About half of the arrivals from Mainland came to Macau under the “Individual Visit Scheme” and at present, over 9 million Mainlanders have visited Macau under this scheme. Chui Sai On pointed out that with a number of new hotels and large-scale tourism and entertainment facilities to be opened, the tourism industry of Macau, cultivated in an environment full of opportunities and challenges, will grow rapidly into a key destination in the Asia Pacific region. Since the initiation of the Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) Regional Cooperation in 2004, Macau is actively working on overall tourism cooperation with the participating provinces and cities. Through fostering closer cooperation and complementary relationship, Macau and the PPRD region can establish a mechanism to enhance their combined competitive edge by sharing resources and joint promotions. Apart from the Mainland market, Macau will continue to reinforce promotional efforts in other major source markets including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and North America among others. Secretary Chui noted that MGTO would step up its promotion force with the theme “Historic Centre of Macau” through its representative offices worldwide. He stressed that for Macau to be an international destination, it is essential to maintain a balanced market structure. Last year, in addition to expanding its representative office in the United States from the west coast to the east coast, MGTO has also set up a new representation in France. He expressed that the successful hosting of the PATA Annual Conference in Macau has shown to the world that Macau is capable of organizing world-class events. The MICE Research and Information Centre to be operational this April will provide the latest information of the MICE industry to the companies bidding for international and regional events to be held in Macau. The Center will help to create favorable conditions for the MICE industry to develop. Chui Sai On noted that the steady growth in visitor arrivals over the years has not only brought economic effectiveness to the tourism industry but various dilemma as well. To provide quality service to visitors and assure the healthy and sustainable development of the tourism market have become the targets for both the government and trade to achieve. The government will fully support the training efforts of the tourism trade and the Commission for Tourism Development will continue its role to strengthen the connection with the trade to join hands to bring Macau tourism to the next level. MGTO Director João Manuel Costa Antunes said in the press conference that MGTO seeks to build Macau into a City of Culture and Entertainment with Macau’s uniqueness in culture, life style, gourmet, sports and festive events. “Macau a world of difference, the difference is Macau” will continue to be the promotional slogan and a series of promotional programs will be launched to mark the “Macau World Heritage Year”. He added that MGTO has planned to launch various promotional campaigns at respective markets while keeping a vigilant watch on new markets, such as the Middle East and Eastern Europe, for a more diversified market portfolio. Antunes stressed that the operation of the MICE Research and Information Centre will further facilitate the development of the MICE industry and business travel. The Centre will assist the bidding of international meetings to be held in Macau and help to attract overseas entities and meeting planners to organize MICE activities in Macau. The preparation for the “United National World Tourism Organization Ministerial Round Table Meeting” and the “44th Meeting of the Commission for East Asia and the Pacific and the 48th Meeting of the Commission for South Asia” to be held this year are in full swing. In order to follow swiftly the pulse of the tourism market, MGTO will continue its efforts to enhance service quality, improve tourism supporting facilities and, through the restructuring of MGTO and the construction of a new MGTO building, respond to the appeals of current tourism trends