“Experience Macau!” Carnival was held in Hong Kong to Promote Macau Grand Prix

Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) and Macau Grand Prix Committee (MGPC) co-organized the “Experience Macau!” Carnival at Festival Walk in Kowloon Tong today (19 October 2008) to promote the “55th Macau Grand Prix” and Macau’s tourism. Engineer João Manuel Costa Antunes, Director of MGTO and Coordinator of Macau Grand Prix Committee (MGPC) and representatives from MGTO and MGPC attended the event. MGTO engaged the theme of “Experience Macau!” for the carnival, in which the audience could experience Macau’s unique sceneries, cuisines, inspirations, sound and music, and exciting new changes through the five senses – “See”, “Taste”, “Feel”, “Hear” and “Touch”. There were various performances and exhibitions in the carnival which showed that Macau is an ideal tourism destination where East meets West and both of its traditions and new developments co-exist. MGTO Director Engineer João Manuel Costa Antunes and the famous twin-artists Soler, model Amanda S., artist and racer Chin Ka Lok then officiated the opening ceremony. The organizer invited the “Best Video Awards” and “My Favourite Video Awards” winner of “Macau Feel and View” Digital Video Campaign, organized by Hong Kong Representative of MGTO, to share their experiences in capturing Macau’s fascination with their video cameras. The winning videos of “Best Video Awards” were also broadcasted at the carnival. Nonetheless, the celebrities Soler, Amanda S. and Chin Ka Lok shared their travel experiences in Macau with the audiences. Other on-stage performances included the Racing Girl Fashion Show and a Live Ensemble performance. Finally, the carnival ended with a cheerful Portuguese Folk Dance performance. It attracted a substantial number of audiences and media from Hong Kong and Macau. Apart from the thrilling performances on stage, MGTO has specially set up the “Macau Grand Prix” exhibition area that showcased a Formula 3 racing car, rescue car and the 3D Guia circuit model, as well as the “Macau World Heritage” and “Macau Wedding Photo Shooting Tour” exhibitions. It has also set up a booth to distribute Macau’s tourism brochures and guidebooks to the participants. MGTO continued to employ “Experience Macau” as the promotional campaign this year with the slogan, “A World of Difference, the Difference is Macau” for a series of promotions around the world. The overall visitor arrivals to Macau in the first 9 months of 2008 were over 23,000,000. It has become one of the key leisure and business destinations in the Asia Pacific region.