The government has earmarked 235 million patacas for expanding its international tourism market this year, and its tourism chief told reporters yesterday that “more than half of the amount has already been spent”, describing the effectiveness of the promotion drive to attract foreign tourists as “relatively satisfactory”.
According to Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, the ongoing promotion campaigns include the provision of a wide range of travel concessions and diversified tourism products in cooperation with Air Macau, regional and international airlines and the tourism industry, as well as operators of transport services between Hong Kong and Macau: “Cooperation with Air Macau accounts for a large part of the budget. In addition, we also cooperate with some international airlines flying to Macau. And since the beginning of the year, we have been offering free bus rides from the Hong Kong International Airport to Macau, as well as a one-way ferry ticket for our international tourists who have boarding passes that are valid for seven days during their stay in Macau. Including other promotions, I think it all adds up to 235 million patacas”.
In a reply to a recent written interpellation by lawmaker-cum-banker Ngan Iek Hang early this month, Senna Fernandes noted that as of the end of the second quarter of this year, the number of tickets booked under the airline cooperation programme exceeded 70,000, the number of tourists benefiting from the cooperation programme on transport services to and from Hong Kong and Macau surpassed 100,000, while the sales volume of online and offline travel agency, electronic commerce and banking cooperation programmes exceeded 50,000 visitors, i.e., the government has offered 70,000 discounted air tickets to attract foreign tourists from places including Malaysia, North America, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand while MGTO also offered free bus and ferry rides to 100,000 foreign visitors arriving from Hong Kong.
“We’ve seen that although Asian tourists account for the majority [of those benefitting from the promotion campaigns], we’ve also seen a lot of European and US tourists, and even some from other places, taking up such offers,” the tourism chief told the media on the sidelines of a public event in Barra yesterday, adding that next year’s focus will continue to be on promoting Macau to “international” visitors.
“International” visitors are foreign nationals visiting Macau, i.e., excluding those from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The MGTO director also revealed to the media yesterday her office’s preliminary plans for next year, including the continuation of the ongoing offers of discounted air tickets, free Hong Kong-Macau bus and ferry rides, as well as MGTO’s participation in travel trade shows and the organisation of six overseas roadshows in foreign countries: “In fact, this year, we’re offering a wide range of concessions, including air and ferry tickets, as well as even free bus trips [from Hong Kong’s airport to Macau], which seem to be more popular among the public… I’m sure we’ll continue to do that, and we’ll review what we’ve done this year, and then we’ll see if there are any changes we need to make next year, or who we’re going to work with.” She admitted that the campaigns were launched after making use of Hong Kong’s wider network.
In her recent reply to lawmaker Ngan, Senna Fernandes pointed out that the number of foreign visitor arrivals recovered “significantly”, with more than 1.3 million foreign visitor arrivals recorded in the first seven months of this year, a year-on-year surge of 122 percent, marking a recovery to 68.1 percent of the same period in pre-pandemic 2019. The reply also noted that the Philippines and South Korea accounted the largest part of foreign visitor arrivals, with 277,000 and 265,000 arrivals respectively, amounting to year-on-year increases of 90.7 percent and 300.6 percent; followed by Indonesia and Malaysia, with 106,000 and 94,000 arrivals respectively, corresponding to year-on-year expansions of 45 percent and 167.2 percent.
Following the Southeast Asian market, MGTO, according to Senna Fernandes, plans to explore source markets in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Meanwhile, a group visitor from the mainland has recently claimed on a social media platform that she was requested by a Macau tourist guide to pay 200 yuan (225 patacas) in order to enter a local casino. Asked by reporters yesterday, Senna Fernandes said that MGTO has been, in conjunction with relevant public entities, including the Public Security Police (PSP), Macau Customs Service (SA) and Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT), carrying out impromptu inspections of travel agents, adding that if the claim on the social media platform “was made in response to false information disseminated by local travel agents”, fines would be imposed on the tour guides concerned, or, depending on the seriousness of the case, the renewal of their licence might be affected, while there would be additional penalties if illegal tourist guides were involved.
Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes speaks to the media yesterday in Barra. – Photo: MPDG
