Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) received the lucky tourists and organized the traditional tray race and dinner banquet today to celebrate the World Tourism Day concurrently with its counterparts around the world. This year's theme of World Tourism Day is "Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future". MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes remarked, "Water is not only a vital spring of life for humanities but also key resources for the tourism industry. It is our obligation to encourage industry partners and remind visitors to treasure water resources. The "Macau Green Hotel Award" scheme is advocating eco-friendly management in the hospitality industry. We believe the theme of World Tourism Day this year can help spreading a positive message about treasuring water resources." MGTO Director Senna Fernandes together with Deputy Directors Manuel Pires and Cecilia Tse arrived at Macau Ferry Terminal this morning to present welcome souvenirs to the lucky tourist today. Souvenirs were also distributed to visitors at MGTO Information Counters throughout the day. The lucky tourists of World Tourism Day came from Australia this year for a sightseeing trip to Macau World Heritage sites. The traditional tray race was held in the afternoon with participants setting off from the Ruins of St Paul's to Senado Square. The race was divided into men's and women's categories and attracted over 200 participants representing more than 24 hotels and restaurants in Macau. The first-prize winner of the men's category was Liu Yan Song from Venetian Macau Resort Hotel, whereas Leong Mei Fong from Galaxy Macau won the first prize in the women's category. Best Costume Awards went to Li Qiying and Galism Rogelio Jr. Magtaan from Holiday Inn Macau. During the 3rd session of its General Assembly in Spain in 1979, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) decided to designate 27 September as the annual "World Tourism Day". This is the 34th year since the celebrations commenced in 1980. The main purpose of founding "World Tourism Day" is to foster awareness of the importance of tourism and especially its social, cultural, political and economic values among the international community. World Tourism Organization selects a specific theme message to commemorate "World Tourism Day" each year. Over the past 33 years, a different theme was chosen for the annual World Tourism Day. This year is the 34th anniversary of World Tourism Day and the theme is "Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future". The official celebrations of World Tourism Day 2013 are launched on 27 September in Maldives, with over 100 countries/regions carrying out celebrations around the world on the day as well. For more details, please visit: http://wtd.unwto.org/en. On the other hand, MGTO launched the first four walking tour routes themed as "Step Out, Experience Macau's Communities" today (27 September), encouraging visitors to explore different neighborhoods in Macau. The new routes are expected to divert visitors off the beaten tourist track in order to alleviate the burden and foster community tourism. Visitors and citizens can obtain the walking tour maps for free at MGTO's Tourist Information counters or download the walking tour maps or enjoy the videos of the routes on MGTO's website: http://www.macautourism.gov.mo.
