Chief Executive Chui Sai On was present at the welcome dinner of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) Interim Marketing Meeting which is kicked off on January 25 in Macau. In the same afternoon, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U and Chief of Office for the Secretary Cheung So Mui met with MGTO officials and its 50 representatives from around the world.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U met with Director of MGTO João Manuel Costa Antunes, Deputy Director Manuel Gonçalves Pires Júnior, department heads and 50 representatives of MGTO. Speaking at the dinner, Cheong U expressed that the number of visitor arrivals to Macau has grown from 7.5 million in 1999 to 21 million in 2009. The “Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta” consolidates Macau’s position as an international tourism and leisure destination. Tourism is a vital industry in Macau and the SAR Government will advance with the objective of moderate economic diversification through tapping potential source markets, enriching tourism products, nurturing MICE industry and participating proactively in the regional development of the MICE industry. At the same time, more cultural resources will be explored and more cultural tourism products will be developed to support tourism development. He also pointed out that under the guidance of the Central Government’s policy and in line with the SAR Government’s policy direction, the diversification of tourism will be boosted with a higher and wider perspective and vision. Following the macro policy and direction, the Government will fine tune and advance the marketing promotional strategies while cooperating with the travel trade to improve the overall service quality of the tourism industry to achieve a healthy and moderately diversified development of Macau’s tourism industry, from which other related industries as well as the economy of the region will benefit. Director Antunes reported last year’s tourism development of Macau at the meeting, revealing that visitor arrivals to Macau in 2009 amounted to 21.75 million, a slight drop of 5.2%. However, the overnight stay visitors increased by 1.5 percentage point. In addition, from January to November last year, the number of overnight guests rose by 1.6 percent while the average length of stay also increased by 0.05 percentage point to 1.5 nights.
He continued that despite negative growth in many source markets in Asia, Japan, Indonesia and India saw positive gain of 3.4%, 6.2% and 30.5% respectively. Spain, with a rise of 5.6 percent in arrivals, is the only market recorded positive growth among the European markets. Furthermore, Vietnam and Russia, two targeted potential markets of MGTO, showed a 20.1 percent and 9.6 percent growth respectively. Currently, there are a total of 20,316 rooms in accommodation premises in Macau. At the Interim Marketing Meeting, MGTO hosted a Travel Trade Networking Luncheon with over 300 people attended. On the other hand, representatives of MGTO visited the newly opened hotels, the Mandarin's House and the Macau Science Center during their stay. Moreover, mini marts for MICE and leisure tourism were held for local travel trade to meet with representatives of MGTO to discuss business opportunities to attract more visitors to Macau.
On January 27, Director Antunes will lead a delegation of MGTO management team and the 50 representatives to Guangzhou and Shenzhen through the Lotus Bridge (border gate to China) for a 3-day visit. This will help the representatives to understand more on the development and tourism resources of Pearl River Delta region, so to promote regional tourism. The itinerary includes Baomo Yuan Garden in Panyu of Guangzhou, Guangdong Science Center and Lingnan (South China) Impression Garden. Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration and the Culture, Sports and Tourism Administration of Shenzhen Municipality hosted luncheon and dinner for the delegation respectively.
At present, there are 17 representation offices of MGTO around the world, Australia and New Zealand; Hong Kong, China; India; Indonesia; Japan; Mainland China; Malaysia; the Philippines; Singapore; South Korea; Taiwan, China; Thailand; Belgium; Germany; Portugal; United Kingdom and Ireland, United States. Each year, MGTO capitalized the Interim Marketing Meeting to discuss with its representatives about strategies and tactics for this time of adversity. Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U delivers a speech at the meetingInterim Marketing Meeting of MGTOMGTO hosts a Networking Luncheon with 300 attendeesDirector of MGTO delivers a speech at the meetingMini marts for MICE and leisure tourism are held at the Macau TowerGroup photo of Chief Executive with MGTO officials and representatives
