Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said yesterday that the number of visitor arrivals hit a daily average of 18,000 during the Easter holidays, expecting that during the mainland’s Labour Day “Golden Week” the daily visitor arrivals will be over 20,000.
Senna Fernandes made the remarks during a press conference about the upcoming Light Up Macao Gala 2022 at the Macau Science Centre in Nape.
Macau’s tourism chief also said she believed that the number of visitor arrivals could reach over 20,000 per day over the Labour Day weekend as the validity period for nucleic acid test (NAT) results was extended by the local government to 48 hours yesterday.
Senna Fernandes underlined that cooperation between the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) cities is crucial to the tourism situation in Macau, adding that “MGTO has scheduled the Macao International Tourism (Industry) Expo in July, hoping to attract more participants from mainland China”.
In the second half of the year, she added, MGTO would focus on promoting Macau to other GBA cities, as well as hosting its “Macau Week” promotions in different provinces in the mainland.
GBA comprises nine cities in Guangdong province as well as the nation’s two special administrative regions – Hong Kong and Macau.
Drone Gala 2022 to start on May 1
Meanwhile, Senna Fernandes announced during the press conference details of the upcoming Drone Gala 2022 programme. She said that the four-day programme would attract many spectators to Nam Van, thus benefiting the various businesses in the area. She noted that last year the gala attracted more than 13,000 people to Nam Van each night.
When reporters asked why MGTO decided to reschedule the drone show from December to next month, Senna Fernandes said that it was because she wanted to “spread out” the city’s events in order to attract mainlanders to Macau during the middle of the year. She also added that scheduling the gala during the Mid-Autumn Festival in September would not have been the best idea either, as it coincides with the typhoon season.
According to Senna Fernandes, the budget to be spent by the government on the Drone Gala will be limited to 4.4 million patacas, apart from sponsorships by the city’s six gaming operators.
The Light up Macao Drone Gala 2022 will be start at 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on May 1 (Labour Day), 2, 7 and 8 (Buddha’s Birthday) at Nam Van Lake with the theme of “Macao for All Seasons”, using 880 drones to present 3D patterns and spectacles. Each show will last 15 minutes. The Chinese mainland’s Labour Day “Golden Week” will run from April 29 to May 8.
This year’s Drone Gala will involve four new outreach activities, namely the Big Big Drone Exhibition, Drone Formation Display, “Macao for All Seasons” Photography Contest, and “Drone Sky Art” Formation Design Contest.
The outreach activities will run between next Monday and May 8.
Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes talks to reporters after yesterday’s press conference at the Macau Science Centre in Nape about upcoming Light Up Macao Gala 2022 show. Photo: Prisca Tang
This image taken yesterday from MGTO’s video promoting its four-day Light Up Macao Gala 2022 event shows Macau’s tourism mascot Mak Mak.
