In response to the discharge of radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean, which started on Thursday and is planned to last intermittently for 30 years, the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) would consider adjusting its current travel alert urging the public to plan their trips carefully when travelling to 10 Japanese areas comprising Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano, Saitama and, “Fukushima in particular,” MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes told reporters on the sidelines of an event at the Macau Science Centre in Nape on Saturday.
Senna Fernandes said that MGTO would consider adjusting the travel alert for the 10 Japanese areas after assessing the response and information received from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Beijing or from neighbouring regions, stressing that MGTO would continue to pay close attention to any updates.
Macau still maintains the Travel Alert Level 2 issued to all overseas countries or territories on March 19, 2020, reminding local residents who plan to travel there to reconsider their itinerary and avoid going there, “unless necessary”.
Japan is a “traditional and important tourist market for Macau”, Senna Fernandes pointed out, adding that MGTO’s promotion campaign in Japan slated for the second half of the year has not been cancelled, the timing of which, however, MGTO would adjust subject to the latest situation.
Senna Fernandes told reporters that MGTO’s online promotion campaign in Japan would continue for the time being, while the roadshows there were still being prepared but the schedule had yet to be fixed.
Highest No. of post-pandemic visitors of over 100,000 per day: MGTO
Meanwhile, Macau has received a daily average of over 100,000 visitor arrivals so far this month, the highest number of any post-pandemic month, Senna Fernandes noted, adding that the visitor structure was now different to that before the pandemic, with “quite a few” of the visitors being families who are not only focused on visiting tourist attractions, but also more willing than in the past to “explore” different tourism products.
“It’s good to see more people willing to travel around local neighbourhoods”, Senna Fernandes said, adding that MGTO would grasp the development opportunities to promote and encourage the organisation of activities in different neighbourhoods.
The resumption of a number of events in Macau in the second half of this year, coupled with the 70th anniversary of the Macau Grand Prix (MGP) and a raft of business promotion events, was expected to attract more different types of tourists, so that the number of visitor arrivals would meet the government’s forecast of 24 million for the whole of this year, Senna Fernandes said.
As more and more air routes are getting off the ground, Senna Fernandes said, MGTO would launch more new tourism products targeting overseas markets in the future.
Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes talks to reporters on the sidelines of Saturday’s event at the Macau Science Centre in Nape.
– Photo courtesy of TDM
