A cultural heritage scavenger hunt contest was held yesterday morning by the Macao Hotel Employees Association, a subsidiary of the Macao Federation of Trade Unions (MFTU, or “Gung Leun” in Cantonese), exclusively for its members who are staff members of the hospitality and tourism sector, as well as their families and relatives.
The competition, sponsored by the public Macao Foundation (FM), challenged the 50 participants grouped into five-member teams to interact with tourists and solve a series of riddles related to local culture and history, which gave clues to the locations of the hidden items required to win.
The event started after a launch ceremony held at 9 a.m. at the organiser’s headquarters on Rua do Campo, and guided participants to explore the Historic Centre of Macau comprising over 20 monuments in the heart of the peninsula.
Lei Pou Loi, president of the Macao Hotel Employees Association, said during the launch ceremony that the event aimed to enhance participants’ knowledge of Macau’s cultural and culinary heritage as well as the storied history of its tourist attractions. He added that the event also served as a “fun day” for the association’s members to “spend more time and create wonderful memories” with their family and friends.
According to information provided by the organiser, the winning team received 1,000 patacas.
On the sidelines of the event, Lei told The Macau Post Daily that the scavenger hunt competition was also designed as an educational activity for its members. “We aim to let employees of the hospitality and tourism sector gain a practical insight into how tourists feel about Macau, by exploring areas on foot along a designed route to visit unique locales,” Lei said, adding that such travel mode has become especially popular among young mainland Chinese tourists in the post-pandemic era.
According to Lei, the hospitality sector is steadily recovering thanks to the tourism rebound led by the surge of inbound tourists, which at the same time has escalated demands for employees’ reskilling and upskilling. He noted: “Instead of lining up to purchase luxury items, many visitors have turned their attention to local neighbourhoods, especially those with photogenic spots made popular by the travel guides on ‘Xiaohongshu’ [a mainland Chinese social media platform]”. In light of this, he said, the industry must upgrade employees’ skillset accordingly in order to diversify its offerings, and thus consolidate Macau’s status as a “UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy” and “World Centre of Tourism and Leisure”.
Macao Hotel Employees Association President Lei Pou Loi addresses the launch ceremony of the group’s cultural heritage scavenger hunt competition yesterday.
– Photo: Gabriel Tam
