A video mapping show at Lisbon’s main plaza will kick off the mega tourism promotion to showcase the city and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Macao Special Administrative Region
Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) will organize an “Experience Macao – Portugal” mega promotion next week during Lisbon Travel Market 2019, in which Macao will be in the spotlight as this year’s International Guest Destination. Capitalizing on BTL exposure, a string of activities will be conducted in Lisbon and Porto to give an update about Macao as a tourism destination leveraging on this special year that the city is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao SAR).
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government, Alexis Tam, will be in Portugal to preside over the activities conducted under the umbrella of “Experience Macao – Portugal”. The delegation headed by Alexis Tam will also comprise MGTO Director, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, President of Cultural Affairs Bureau, Mok Ian Ian, President of the Institute for Tourism Studies, Fanny Vong, among other officials, in addition to several of the city’s arts performing groups and Macanese chefs. During his visit to Portugal, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture will also have meetings and exchanges with high-ranking officials for Tourism, Culture and Education area.
The mega tourism promotion will kick off with the presentation of a video mapping show titled “Macao, a Legendary Journey” at Praça do Comércio on March 12, showcasing the city’s history, its links to Portugal, and recent developments in a creative and high impact way to the public in the Portuguese capital. The video mapping show at Lisbon’s major plaza will be unveiled ahead of BTL, opening on the following day. The projections of the video mapping show will run each evening until March 16, organized by MGTO in collaboration with Lisbon City Hall.
As this year’s BTL International Guest Destination, Macao will be a major highlight at Portugal’s most important tourism fair, running March 13 to 17 in the Portuguese capital. In addition, Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (APAVT, from its Portuguese acronym) also selected Macao as its Preferred Destination 2019, channeling even more attention from the Portuguese tourism industry to Macao during BTL and throughout the year. MGTO will participate in BTL with a booth under the theme “Experience Macao Your Own Style” and the 20th anniversary of the Macao SAR. The booth will showcase the city’s UNESCO listed heritage, as well as highlight Macanese gastronomy and Macao as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy with a food truck presenting Macanese delicacies. There will be also Macao virtual reality tour experiences, with Macao tourism mascot Mak Mak also welcoming and entertaining visitors at the booth, and more.
In a organization of Cultural Affairs Bureau and the Macau Artist Society, in collaboration with MGTO, an exhibition with works from over 30 Macao artists will open on the same day as BTL, on March 13, at the Macao Economic and Trade Office in Lisbon. Four street dance groups from Macao (The Dancer Studio Macau, Macau Pop Music and Dance Association, the Association of Macau Street Dance and the Macau Street Dance Culture Association) will also perform at BTL opening day plus in four popular pedestrian streets and plazas in the heart of Lisbon (Praça do Rossio, Rua Augusta, Praça do Comércio and Ribeira das Naus) on March 14.
On March 15, the delegation headed by Alexis Tam will be in Porto for the opening of a Macao exhibition, which will not only promote Macao SAR on its 20th anniversary but also the arts among disabled people, in a collaboration of MGTO with the Fuhong Society of Macau and Porto City Hall. The display will open at the City Hall gallery of Portugal’s second biggest city, presenting 40 drawings of the talented Macao young autistic artist Leong Ieng Wai, depicting Macao monuments and plazas, and the city life. Running until April 24, the opening of the exhibition will be highlighted by a dragon dance performance by Chinese Martial Arts School She-Si from Porto.
The Macao promotion in Portugal will also be marked with a television appearance to conduct a Macanese cooking demonstration, among other initiatives to be presented by visiting Macanese chefs, Antonieta Manhão and Carlos Cabral, to present the city’s unique cuisine, in an array of activities to be conducted to enhance the friendship with Portugal, while boosting tourism relations and showcasing how two decades after the establishment of the Macao SAR, the city is building itself as a world centre of tourism and leisure, and a commercial and trade cooperation service platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
