Themed “MITE connects the World”, the 11th Macau International Travel (Industry) Expo (MITE) is slated to take place from June 30 through July 2 at the Venetian’s Cotai Expo Halls A and B with free admission, featuring six attractions, including four new highlights – “1+4” Pavilion, The Cellar, Macau Creative Pavilion and Macau Educational Tour Development Forum, according to a press conference at the Macau World Trade Centre (MWTC) in Nape yesterday.
The press conference noted that the three-day event, which aims to deepen integration across “tourism+” and enrich Macau’s dynamics as a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure in line with the local government’s development strategy of “1+4”, will cover an area of 23,000 square metres, with about 87 booths. The press conference added that so far this month, the event organisers have received registration requests from 489 exhibitors and about 500 buyers to participate in the annual international travel fair.
The government’s “1+4” development strategy aims for appropriate economic diversification by promoting four main industries – big health, modern finance, high-tech, conventions and exhibitions, as well as culture and sport.
The online “Cloud” series, comprising “Cloud Invitation”, “Cloud B2B”, “Cloud Live Broadcast” and “Cloud Contract Signing” will be set up once again this year in the hope of widening the channels for business networking and sales, and facilitating new partnerships through both online and offline exchanges.
In addition to international, mainland and Hong Kong-Macau-Taiwan-Region exhibition zones, customised booths will be set up by national tourism authorities and enterprises from Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Portugal and Thailand in the upcoming expo, where international airlines will team up with Hong Kong and Macau travel agencies to launch MITE special packages.
Supported by the central government’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the expo is organised by the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) in conjunction with the Macau Travel Agency Association.
MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said in a speech during yesterday’s press conference: “We welcome members of the travel trade from near and far to Macau for regional and international tourism cooperation, in turn diversifying visitor markets and rebuilding momentum for tourism development.”
According to Senna Fernandes, a budget of 31.8 million patacas has been earmarked for this year’s expo, an increase of 23 percent over the 25.8 million patacas budgeted for last year. She added that the increase in the budget was mainly due to the rise in the number of international exhibitors and logistics costs.
The allocation for this year’s budget is different to the past, Senna Fernandes said, noting that 18 million patacas will be provided by Macau’s six integrated resort (IR) operators and 7.9 million patacas by the Macau Travel Agency Association and, therefore, only 5.9 million patacas will be borne by the government for the three-day event.
The expenses of the expo in the past were borne by the Macau Travel Agency Association and the government.
Senna Fernandes said she expected this year’s attendance to exceed last year’s number of about 30,000.
Considering that this year’s live broadcast session will as usual mainly focus on the mainland’s market, Senna Fernandes told reporters after the press conference that MGTO is trying to serve the exhibitors in terms of helping them open up different markets, adding: “We are looking forward to being a platform for international exhibitors for them to also find new business [opportunities] within [the whole of] China”.
Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes (centre) and Deputy Director Ricky Hoi Io Meng (left), as well as Macau Travel Agency Association President Alex Lao Nga Wong pose during yesterday’s press conference about the 11th Macau International Travel (Industry) Expo, at the Macau World Trade Centre (MWTC) in Nape. – Photo: Yuki Lei
