Lively ambience fills the Carnival
Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) puts on a road show titled 'Fun Summer in Macau - Tourism Carnival' in Taiwan from today (31 July) to 6 August. Through creative activities and partnering with locally-famous online illustrator, the event aims to promote Macau’s diverse elements of tourism and encourage more visitations from Taiwan to the city. The week-spanning 'Fun Summer in Macau - Tourism Carnival' currently goes on at Huashan 1914･Creative Park in Taipei. MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes; Head of Macau Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan, Nadia Leong Kit Chi; Head of Marketing Division of MGTO, Cora Vong and MGTO's Public Relations Consultant in Taiwan, Chief Consultant Pauline Leung unveiled the carnival today (31 July). There are fun activities for visitors to complete interesting tasks, besides spectacular performances to enjoy. Taiwan’s famous online illustrator Lu’s attended the carnival’s inauguration to sign autographs for visitors, marking his first art project to team up with MGTO. During the opening, Director Senna Fernandes remarked that Taiwan stably ranks as the third biggest visitor market to Macau. Taiwanese visitor arrivals to Macau totaled 460 thousands within 2015’s first six months, keeping the record from the corresponding period of last year; the sum of Taiwanese visitors staying overnight in Macau topped 200 thousands, registering a year-on-year increase of 2.25 percent. She added that new family-friendly hotels and leisure facilities are opened in Macau this year, followed by more on the pipeline. While the market sees a boom in room supply, visitors can enjoy more various choices of entertainment and leisure travel in town. With colorful festivals and spectacular events lining up in the latter half of the year, she hopes that more Taiwanese visitors will come and experience memorable moments in Macau. The carnival is enlivened by Portuguese folk dancers and a motorsport-themed dance performance as well as other exciting performances. A giant interactive reflection of the Ruins of St. Paul's is set up for participants to take creative photos with the historic monument. Unique postcards about Macau, designed by Lu’s, are given out in the carnival. Visitors can write and mail the postcards by dropping them into the postbox on the spot. The received postcards can be kept as a souvenir after the event. After completing the fun activities, visitors can enjoy a cup of Chinese herbal tea or herbal jelly from Macau for free. They can also enter a lucky draw for a chance to win a three-day roundtrip package to Macau for two individual travelers. The Tourism Office has introduced the eight walking tour routes themed around “Step Out, Experience Macau’s Communities”, followed by launch of the “Take Selfies to Win Prizes” activity in June to promote the themed routes. The project encourages visitors to explore the hidden gems of different quarters in Macau. Interested visitors can obtain material about the themed routes from the reception counter in the carnival or enquire the travel agents for Macau tourism products during the event. To celebrate the tenth anniversary since the Historic Centre of Macao was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2005, Macau Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan partners with MGTO and Cultural Affairs Bureau to co-host an exhibition named “Colors of Macau – Appreciation of Macau Cultural Heritage from various angles” at Huashan 1914･Creative Park in Taipei from today (31 July) to 9 August. The exhibition showcases Macau’s achievements in heritage conservation over the past years in terms of legislation, architectural preservation and archaeological work. The exhibition also reveals the city’s continuous efforts in preservation of intangible cultural heritage as well as revitalization of historic monuments. Through the displayed photos and descriptive captions, it’s hoped that Taiwanese visitors can know more about the cultural gems in the Historic Centre of Macao. Head of Macau Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan, Nadia Leong Kit Chi hopes that the exhibition and the MGTO promotional event 'Fun Summer in Macau - Tourism Carnival' can go hand in hand to draw more Taiwanese visitors to Macau for a profound cultural tour. The exhibits include artworks by Macau illustrators as well, giving Taiwanese residents a glimpse of the multihued, quaint cultural sceneries in Macau. A limited quantity of souvenirs is also available to exhibition guests.
