The 50th Congress of the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (APAVT) concluded yesterday, with the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) noting in a statement that Macau was named “Preferred Destination 2026” during the congress, marking the fourth time that the city garnered the designation.
The city received the designation in 2012, 2019 and 2024.
This year marked the sixth time in over four decades that the congress was held in Macau, according to the statement, this time attracting a new record of over 1,000 participants.
The event was themed “75 Years Looking to the Future” and featured three days of keynote presentations and discussions delivered by around 20 speakers, tackling “hot topics for the Portuguese tourism industry”, the statement noted.
Business networking sessions enabled Portuguese travel agencies to interact with around 40 travel agencies, hotels and other companies from Macau, along with Guangdong, Fujian and Guizhou provinces, the statement added. Moreover, during a welcome dinner earlier this week, Secretary for Economy and Finance Anton Tai Kin Ip was in attendance and received a souvenir from APAVT President Pedro Costa Ferreira.
Moreover, around 60 of the delegates took part in a post-event familiarisation visit to the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, and tours organised by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to Shenzhen, Xiamen, and Guiyang, the statement said.
Now marking its fourth designation, the statement said that MGTO and APAVT will “join hands to conduct a series of work to promote the destination”, with Macau destination promotion and familiarisation visits to the city among the planned collaborative initiatives.
This photo provided by the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) yesterday shows Secretary for Economy and Finance Anton Tai Kin Ip receiving a souvenir from Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (APAVT) President Pedro Costa Ferreira.
