Interview by Yuki Lei
Macau Tourist Guide Association President Wu Wai Fong shared her observations on changes in Macau’s tourism sector with The Macau Post Daily in a recent phone interview.
Wu pointed out that during the post-COVID-19 period, there are more Hongkongers visiting Macau in tour groups, and vice versa, adding she believed that the changes came about with the respective government’s local tour programmes, such as the “Stay, Dine and See Macao” project launched by the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) in 2021.
Wu said: “Travelling in a tour group has become a habit for them [both local and Hong Kong residents], in which everything [itineraries, meals, and sometimes accommodations] has been arranged for them”, adding that some Macau residents have participated in local one-day trips to Hong Kong several times.
Wu pointed out that the number of Hong Kong tour groups is on the rise, but she was quick to add that most of the tour groups from both Hong Kong and Guangdong province are one-day tours because of the high hotel prices.
Many of Macau’s hotel room rates are still above the nation’s average in general, Wu said, adding that local hotels are no longer tourists’ preferential choice, with the increasing competitiveness in the city’s neighbouring areas, where their respective governments such as Foshan city have launched different subsidy schemes for their hotel sector to attract guests with lower room rates.
Commenting on the government’s subsidy programme for travel agents, Wu said that the programme does indeed benefit the tourism sector, as the travel agencies can lower their tour group prices to attract more customers without affecting their revenue. However, Wu underlined, the government “really needs to strengthen its oversight of the programme”, so as to avoid the programme being abused, while at the same time, protecting Macau’s tourism image.
The subsidy programme got off the ground last month, in which a subsidy of up to 400 patacas for each overnight visitor in a tour group from the mainland is given to local travel agencies that organise the group’s tour in Macau.
According to Wu, she received a number of reports from residents about suspected illegal tour guides using Macau’s public buses to travel around the city, instead of booking a coach.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters on Sunday MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said that among the subsidised overnight tour groups, no illegal activities had been found yet, adding that MGTO will continue to inspect and pay close attention to the situation and maintain close contact with the mainland authorities about the issue.
According to an MGTO statement, as of March 23 Macau had recorded 2,048 tour groups from the mainland since February 6 when the central government allowed mainland tour groups to visit Hong Kong and Macau again. Among the tour groups, 542 were from Guangdong.
Undated file photo of Macau Tourist Guide Association President Wu Wai Fong.
– Photo provided by Wu last week
