The Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) said in a statement yesterday that according to its recent study of the “Macau Tourism Branding and Media Effectiveness Evaluation” of four mega events held last year, all of them reached “a high level of public awareness and a good to great level of satisfaction”, reflecting the media’s and netizens’ satisfaction and relatively strong awareness of the events.
The four events were the Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Pig, 30th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest, 4th International Film Festival & Awards‧Macau, and the Macau Light Festival 2019, the statement added.
The study aimed to gain deeper insights into the outcomes and effectiveness of various events, the statement noted.
The evaluation measured a range of variables including the number of media articles covering the events, times of relevant interactions on social media, as well as the levels of awareness and satisfaction by probing the volume of coverage and comments of various media across the globe, the statement said.
The findings revealed that media coverage on the four events came in greater proportion from the nation’s four regions (mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau) ranging from 41.7 percent to 93.2 percent, while the volume of positive opinions outweighed that of negative opinions, the statement said.
The Macau Light Festival 2019 received the highest level of satisfaction among the four events, which was 84.3 percent, while the Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Pig received the lowest level of satisfaction which was 77.1 percent, the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Macau Light Festival 2019 also received the highest level of awareness which was 98.5 percent, while the Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Pig received the lowest level of awareness among the four events, which was 93 percent, the statement underlined.
Furthermore, the evaluation revealed that the volume of media coverage of the four events constituted over 30 percent of total media coverage on Macau tourism throughout 2019, which comprised over 820,000 articles in total.
On the other hand, the times of “relevant interactions” on social media for the 4th International Film Festival & Awards‧Macau was 43,725,604, which exceeded the total of the other three events on social media combined, the statement noted.
The findings made it clear that the events produced a positive impact on Macau’s destination branding, the statement said.
The evaluation indicates that events held in the second half of the year attracted more media attention and commentary, and thus it suggests the government launch events with programmes which resonate with traditional festivals replete with local characteristics, so as to attract a wider media coverage and commentary, the statement said.
This file photo provided by the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) yesterday shows people enjoying themselves at last year’s Macau Light Festival in Nam Van.
