Macau Government Tourist Office and Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board signs Memorandum of Understanding

Under the witness of H.E. the Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah and the Minister of Tourism of Malaysia, Mr Adnan Tengku Mansor, the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) and Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop and strengthen mutual cooperation in tourism. Director of MGTO Mr João Manuel Costa Antunes and Director General of MTPB Dato' Mirza Mohammad Taiyab, signed the MOU at the opening ceremony of the Malaysia-Macau Economic Cooperation Seminar, held today (April 12) at Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur. The MOU states that the two parties will exchange delegations to share experiences in the fields of tourism development and management and tourism promotion. The Parties will encourage tourism businesses of the two places to establish business contacts and will participate in tourism fairs, exhibitions and the like hosted by one or both Parties, while at the same time, undertake study of joint tourism programs in the fields of advertising, development of tour packages, health tourism and homestay programs, promotion and development of Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism. Other activities will include the exchange of information on tourism market, experience on market researches and co-organize opportunities for foreign agencies and mass media representatives to introduce the tourism potentials of Macau and Malaysia. Malaysia became the 5th largest source market of Macau in 2006. Last year, Macau welcomed over 200,000 Malaysian visitors, a remarkable growth of 106 percent over the previous year. The first two months of 2007 saw another significant growth of 93%, with over 40,000 arrivals from Malaysia. “Macau attaches great importance to the Southeast Asian market, and MGTO has set up representation offices which have spared no effort to promote Macau tourism and have made notable achievements in a number of Southeast Asian countries. The signing of the MOU between MGTO and MTPB will surely bring the tourism promotion and cooperation between Macau and Malaysia a step further to boost the tourism development of the two places.” said Mr. Antunes, Director of MGTO. “The introduction of direct flights between Kuala Lumpur and Macau by AirAsia will encourage more visitors from Macau and the surrounding areas to visit Malaysia. Over the years, the number of visitors from the region has grown substantially. Hence, I am confident that this joint cooperation will boost development of tourism and air services in both countries.” said Dato' Mirza, Director General of MTPB. Macau Government Tourist Office, a government body, plays the vital role to promote tourism of Macau and co-ordinates related activities and services within the local tourism industry. Its function also includes assisting the formulation and implementation of local tourism policies and issuing tourism related licences. In keeping with Macau’s development strategy, MGTO will continue to devote itself to promote Macau as a tourism, gaming, entertainment, meetings, exhibitions and events destination through its network of 17 representatives around the world. Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board’s activities are designed to stimulate Malaysian tourism and tourism-related industries. They also develop domestic tourism and enhance Malaysia's share of the market for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE). This helps promote new investments in the country while providing increased employment opportunities. The growth of tourism in Malaysia will contribute positively to the country's economic development and the quality of life for the people.