“Step Out, Experience Macau’s Communities” Highlight Tour Bus
Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) will soft launch the “Step Out, Experience Macau’s Communities” Bus Highlight Tour through a local travel agency tomorrow (1 August) for a test run of 14 days, followed by an official launch on 15 August. Running on circular routes which connect points across the eight walking tour routes under the theme “Step Out, Experience Macau’s Communities”, the Bus Highlight Tour will make a brand new way to experience Macau. Hopping on the bus, visitors can visit different neighborhoods and attractions around the World Heritage “The Historic Centre of Macao” in a more flexible way. To promote community tourism and diversify local tourism products, the Tourist Office will present the “Step Out, Experience Macau’s Communities” Bus Highlight Tour through a local travel agency on 1 August 2015. The Bus Highlight Tour offers three routes that connect various points across the eight walking tour routes, enabling visitors to tour around different neighborhoods and the Historic Centre of Macao at their own pace. There will be a guide on board providing commentary about the sights along the bus tour. Commentary will be offered in English, Cantonese and Mandarin. Passengers can hop off at different stops for a stroll around local districts of their interest. The Bus Highlight Tour covers three circular routes A, B and C. The full circuit of Route A takes about one hour and a half with five runs a day. The stops are located at Macau Ferry Terminal, Macau Fisherman’s Wharf, Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre, Fortune Business Centre, Pousada de São Tiago and Praça de Ponte e Horta. The full circuit of Route B takes about one hour with seven runs a day. The stops include Macau Ferry Terminal, Tap Seac Square, Kun Iam Temple and Border Gate. The circuit of Route C takes approximately two hours with four runs a day. The stops are at Border Gate, Macau Ferry Terminal, Taipa Temporary Ferry Terminal, Rua do Cunha (Taipa) and Largo do Presidente António Ramalho Eanes (Coloane). For all three circular routes, the first bus will depart at 11 a.m. daily. The last bus will depart at 5 p.m. (Route C) or 5:30 p.m. (Route A and B). Visitors can sign up for the Bus Highlight Tour at Macau Ferry Terminal, Macau Fisherman’s Wharf and Border Gate (at the area between the checkpoints of Gongbei and Border Gate) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The price is 100 patacas per person, while children at age of 12 or under and seniors at age of 65 or above can enjoy a half-price discount. With the bus pass, passengers can enjoy unlimited rides along all the routes for a whole day. MGTO has produced the leaflet (in English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese) for “Step Out, Experience Macau’s Communities” Bus Highlight Tour. Starting from tomorrow (1 August), visitors can obtain the leaflets from MGTO’s Tourist Information counters in Macau for free. They can also view or download information about the routes from MGTO’s website: http://www.macautourism.gov.mo. After launching the Bus Highlight Tour, the Office will update the relevant information on the “Step Out, Macau” Mobile App and MGTO’s Wechat account (mgtoweixin) subsequently. During the test-run period, MGTO will closely monitor the operation and running status of the bus routes while being open to listen to suggestions, followed by evaluation and adjustment on the operation. Planning to launch the “Step Out, Experience Macau’s Communities” Bus Highlight Tour officially on 15 August, the Office hopes to let visitors explore different neighborhoods in a leisure style and discover more interesting dimensions of the multi-faceted city and its enchanting glamour. For details please visit MGTO’s website: http://www.macautourism.gov.mo or make an enquiry at Tourism Hotline: (853) 2833 3000 or the travel agency’s hotline service: (853) 2872 5813.