Officials of Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration, Hong Kong Tourism Board and Macau Government Tourist Office attended the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Tourism Cooperation Meeting” in Macau today (June 9). Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U hosted a luncheon to welcome the delegations from Guangdong and Hong Kong. Deputy Director of Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration Wang Zhi Hong and Executive Director of Hong Kong Tourism Board Anthony Lau led their respective delegations to meet with Director of MGTO João Manuel Costa Antunes and heads of relevant departments to review the promotional activities carried out in 2009, to exchange the latest tourism developments of the three places and to discuss the joint working plan for the current year. During the meeting, the three tourism authorities agreed to continue their efforts and strengthen cooperation in several major aspects. In addition to the working plan for 2010, which included topics such as the Asian Games in Guangzhou, World Tourism Day, tourism products (themed itineraries), joint promotional activities and promotion tools, the discussion also focused on the implementation of the tourism cooperation protocols signed earlier between Guangdong and Hong Kong as well as Guangdong and Macau. The tourism authorities of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau have a longstanding and well-established cooperation mechanism and chairmanship rotation system, which are effective instruments for the three places to advance their working plans, to strengthen communication and cooperation, to complement each other and to brand the Pearl River Delta region as a quality international tourism destination. The announcement of “The Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta” and “The Hengqin Overall Development Plan” have elevated the regional cooperation to a higher and broader dimension that brings new opportunities to the development of the Pearl River Delta region, from which the tourism sector stands to benefit. Under the new strategic direction, the three tourism authorities are confident that the tourism industry of the Pearl River Delta could achieve greater development.
In recent years, the joint promotional effort of the three places is bearing fruits. Last year, joint pavilions of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau were set up in travel fairs and tourism expositions held in Hong Kong, Japan, Guangzhou and Macau to promote multi-destination itineraries. The tourism authorities of the three places have also reached consensus to extend their joint promotions beyond East Asia and Southeast Asia to other potential as well as long-haul markets. This year, joint promotional activities such as roadshows will be held in Taiwan, the United Kingdom and France to further promote the international brand of Pearl River Delta regional tourism. Wang Zhi Hong expressed that through close communication and cooperation of the tourism authorities of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau in joint campaigns, brand promotions, resources sharing, and intelligence exchange all these years, the profile and exposure of the international brand of Pearl River Delta regional tourism has been elevated. She hoped that the meeting will bring further consensus among the three places on relevant issues to foster a more effective and pragmatic cooperation for the next phase. Anthony Lau said that with the joint effort and co-operation of the three tourism authorities, significant progress was achieved in the development and promotion of multi-destination itineraries featuring Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau over the past year. Mr Lau believed that the three tourism authorities would continue their close collaboration to devise more creative promotions and communication platforms, which would help further promote the quality brand image of multi-destination travel in the region and attract more visitors to the three destinations. Antunes expressed that Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau have a longstanding and solid foundation for tourism cooperation, which dated back to 1993, when a cooperation mechanism was set up to promote the international brand of regional tourism encompassing Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. In 2007, the three tourism authorities agreed to set up a chairmanship rotation system to further enhance mutual communication and exchange. MGTO assumed chairmanship of the cooperation mechanism for the current year. He stressed that the Macau SAR government is striving for moderate diversification of the economy and in turn the tourism industry of Macau is moving towards diversification of tourism products and source markets. It is necessary to continue to explore and consolidate potential source markets. Macau is always open and enthusiastic to cooperate with nearby regions to promote regional tourism, in the belief that, through delivering multi-destination itineraries, the goal of complementing resources and building up of an international brand of regional tourism could be achieved.
