Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said yesterday that her bureau will improve its notification mechanism for tourists during typhoons in response to the predicament of a large number of visitor arrivals who were stuck at Macau’s border checkpoints waiting for taxis during Monday’s typhoon.
Senna Fernandes made the remarks on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of a business matching event at MGM Macau, when the media asked her whether she believed that the long hours the visitors had to wait for public transport on Monday had affected their travelling experience in Macau.
Affected by Typhoon Talim on Monday, Macau’s ferry, civil aviation and public bus services were suspended, so that tourists arriving in Macau had to join long queues at taxi ranks outside border checkpoints.
All Macau public transport, including buses, call taxis and airline services only resumed after the lowering of the No.8 signal to the No.3 signal at 8 p.m. on Monday.
Senna Fernandes said that during Typhoon Talim on Monday, the bureau had sent out typhoon warning messages to 110,000 non-local phone numbers and more than 40,000 local phone numbers outside Macau.
Senna Fernandes acknowledged that the bureau has received individual complaints concerning taxi fares and the long time of waiting for public transport. She promised that MGTO will further upgrade its messaging mechanism such as by increasing the number of messages and optimising the content of the messages, as well as improving the quality of service by communicating with other public entities about the situation.
Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes talks to reporters on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of a business matching session at MGM Macau yesterday. – Photo courtesy of TDM
