“Macao Food Guide for 1st October Holiday”
Spanning a whole week from 1st to 7th October, the 1st October Golden Week will begin on 1st October officially. Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has adopted a range of measures to actively prepare for the peak period as follows: sending out reminders and mobile text messages to industry partners and visitors respectively, sharing interdepartmental information, more scrupulous inspections, food guide publication, stationing manpower at various tourist spots to provide tourism information and guidance, etc. Through a series of measures, MGTO is dedicated not only to catering for the needs of residents and visitors but also to optimizing tourism service quality and tourism environment in Macao. Regular communication and information sharing By sending out letters, MGTO suggests local travel agency associations should advise tour operators to adjust their schedules of tour group visits to major attractions. On the other hand, through mobile text messages, MGTO advises visitors to visit popular sightseeing districts during off-peak hours. Such tactics are adopted to divert visitors from overcrowding areas and to keep traffic situations and neighborhoods near tourist sites least affected, so as to maintain a positive destination image of Macao. During the period from 1st to 9th October, personnel will be stationed at ten different tourist locations to provide tourism information and guidance for visitors and assist in crowd management. MGTO also regularly communicates and exchanges information with other government entities including Consumer Council, Public Security Police Force, Macau Customs Service, Marine and Water Bureau as well as Transport Bureau. From the “Real-Time Information Platform of Border Ports” operated by Public Security Police Force, visitors can check the real-time border-crossing images at the arrival & departure halls and traffic lanes of Border Gate, Outer Harbour and Cotai Frontier Post by visiting the platform webpage: http://www.fsm.gov.mo/psp/pspmonitor on phone or computer. Visitors can hence choose a suitable timing to leave or arrive in Macao more flexibly. MGTO’s website has offered a direct link to Public Security Police Force’s webpage “Real-Time Information Platform of Border Ports”. Reminder to trade and more scrupulous inspections In order to safeguard visitor rights and tourism quality, MGTO already sent out letters to tourism and related businesses to raise their awareness about hygiene, fire safety, guest capacity, opening hours, occupational guideline of hosting tour groups, requirement for hotels and catering establishments to declare their price lists as well as for hotels to keep a record of hotel guest information upon check-in, hotel swimming-pool management guideline and so forth. MGTO will carry out more scrupulous inspections at various tourist attractions, ports and districts in Macao while joining hands with police authorities to keep combating illegal accommodation. MGTO inspectors will stand by round the clock. The Office will also increase the manpower at Tourist Information counters, whereas MGTO’s Tourism Hotline (853) 2833 3000 will maintain its 24-hour operator service as usual. Visitors may also obtain tourism and related information from MGTO’s official website. Posting visitor arrival numbers online Because of the upcoming 1st October Golden Week, MGTO will post every previous day’s visitor arrival numbers online for the public’s information during the period between 2nd and 8th October. On top of that, MGTO regularly publishes the room rates of different room categories reported by hotels and guest houses in Macao on its website. In addition, via its WeChat ID, the Office will advise visitors to make room reservation and prepare their itinerary ahead of their trip to Macao. Event and festival Highlights on App During the National Day holidays, there will be a range of festivals, events, performances, exhibitions and activities in Macao, including the finale fireworks evening themed as “Celebration in the Sky” in the 28th Macao International Fireworks Display Contest, featuring the fireworks presented by the team from Romania and China on the National Day. Residents and visitors can download several mobile apps including "What's On, Macao", "Experience Macao" and "Step Out, Macao" Mobile App from App Store or Google Play for free, and easily obtain information about the latest tourist attractions, events and festivals, performances, exhibitions and activities in Macao. Smartphone users can download the Apps in advance and check out Macao's splendid events and tourism information offline. The content of the Apps is available in English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese. “Step Out” Mobile App also offers its content in Portuguese. Macao Food Guide Visitors can find the restaurants and eateries accredited by the Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme (QTSAS) listed in the “Star Merchant Award" – Restaurants and Eateries Guide. MGTO has also published the “Macao Food Guide for 1st October Holiday” (Chinese version only) together with General Union of the Macau Neighborhood Association, the United Association of Food and Beverage Merchants of Macau, the Industry and Commerce Association of Macau Northern District, Commerce Federation of Macau Central and Southern District as well as the Industry and Commerce Federation of Islands of Macau. Offering a contact list of restaurants and eateries which will be open during the 1st October Golden Week, the handy food guide will familiarize locals and visitors with the restaurants’ operation information. “Step Out, Experience Macao’s Communities” To enrich the festive experience, MGTO will again arrange a variety of artistic performances with the hue of Chinese and Portuguese traditions at different tourist attractions in Macao and spots along the “Step Out, Experience Macao’s Communities” walking tour routes on weekends. Visitors can enjoy these performances for free. Personnel will be stationed at different tourist locations to provide visitors with tourism information. They will also distribute the brochure "Step Out, Experience Macao's Communities Walking Tour Routes", encouraging locals and visitors to explore the routes. The “Star Merchant Award" – Restaurants and Eateries Guide and the “Step Out, Experience Macao's Communities Walking Tour Routes” Brochure can be downloaded from MGTO's website: http://www.macaotourism.gov.mo or acquired at MGTO’s Tourist Information counters. The “Macao Food Guide for 1st October Holiday” is available in both hard and soft copies by distribution and for downloading during the 1st October Golden Week, or can be viewed on MGTO’s WeChat ID.