With the seven-day Spring Festival Golden Week (24th — 30th January) arriving soon, Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) is gearing up for the festive period with a diversity of proactive measures such as offering a forecast of visitor flows at major attractions via the “smart application for visitor flows”, delegating manpower at tourist spots to attend to visitor enquiries, interdepartmental sharing of information, conducting more scrupulous inspections, sending reminders to tourism industry operators, reminding visitors to stay at lawful accommodations, publication of Macao Food Guide during Spring Festival, as well as staging mega Chinese New Year celebrations, among others. The above measures are carried out to cater to the needs of residents and visitors, optimize the tourism environment and service quality.
Smart travel enhances visitor flow diversion
For the public’s information, MGTO’s online platform Macao Tourism Data plus (http://dataplus.macaotourism.gov.mo) will post provisional visitor arrival figures of every previous day between 25th and 31st January during the Golden Week, while the Office regularly publicizes the declared room rates of local hotels and guest houses in all room categories via its website (www.macaotourism.gov.mo) and the Macao Tourism Industry Net （http://industry.macaotourism.gov.mo）. Via its official WeChat ID and Facebook page, the Office has also advised visitors to make room reservation and prepare itineraries in advance of their trips to Macao.
Offering a forecast of visitor flows at major tourist attractions in Macao via its corresponding website (https://poimonitor.macaotourism.gov.mo), mobile app for the walking tour routes “Step Out, Macao” and MGTO’s WeChat ID “MGTOweixin”, the “smart application for visitor flows” gives visitors and industry operators an outlook of visitor flows and facilitates their itinerary arrangements, hence guiding visitors to visit attractions in other districts during peak hours for visitor flows. Visitors can also access the “smart application for visitor flows” via the introduction pages about Macao and its tourist attractions on the mobile app Baidu Map.
MGTO continues to collaborate closely with Public Security Police Force to enable users’ awareness about crowd control measures implemented by Public Security Police Force through the “smart application for visitor flows”. MGTO’s website also offers a direct link to the Public Security Police Force’s “Real-Time Information Platform of Border Ports”, where visitors can check real-time border-crossing images at various ports of entry, hence choosing the suitable timing of arrival and departure.
From 25th January to 2nd February, MGTO will arrange for personnel to provide visitors with tourism information and guidance at ten tourist spots while assisting in diverting the flow of visitors, with the aim to channel visitors off the beaten path and minimize their impact on traffic conditions and neighborhoods near tourist sites, thus maintaining the positive destination image of Macao.
Safeguard tourism quality with unreserved efforts
MGTO also maintains regular communication and exchange of information with the Consumer Council, Public Security Police Force, Macao Customs Service, Marine and Water Bureau, Transport Bureau and so forth, besides carrying out more rigorous inspections and taking concerted action with police authorities to combat illegal accommodation during Spring Festival, with MGTO inspectors standing by round-the-clock.
A great number of visitors is expected to arrive in Macao during Chinese New Year. To prevent operation of unlicensed tour guides, the Office will delegate more manpower to patrol at major tourist attractions, ports of entry and tour routes, to ensure lawful operation of tour groups and safeguard the rights of both visitors and local travel trade.
In order to ensure tourism quality, MGTO has sent letters to industry operators to raise their awareness about hygiene, fire safety, guest capacity, opening hours, occupational guideline on tour group operation, requirement for hotels and catering establishments to declare price lists as well as for hotels to keep records of hotel guest information upon check-in, hotel swimming-pool management guideline and so forth. Furthermore, MGTO has sent letters advising travel agency associations to communicate with travel agencies for coordination of their itinerary arrangements for tour groups to visit major attractions.
Concerning a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown cause in Wuhan, MGTO has forwarded the disease prevention guidelines issued by Health Bureau to the tourism industry, and joined Health Bureau to hold two briefing sessions for the tourism and hotel industries to learn more about the related situation and preventive measures elaborated by representatives of Health Bureau. The Office also offered special assistance to traditional budget accommodations and arranged for staff to present the preventive and control measures on-site.
Around Chinese New Year, MGTO carries out promotion across Macao and Zhuhai via various channels and online media to raise the awareness about choosing lawful accommodations and remind visitors about various threats posed by staying at illegal accommodations in terms of fire safety, public health, architectural safety and public security, as well as the liabilities involved.
Manpower will be adjusted in accordance with the situation at MGTO’s Tourist Information counters where the promotional pamphlet “Enjoy Macao” is available to visitors, while MGTO’s tourism hotline (853) 2833 3000 will maintain its 24-hour operator service to attend to visitors’ enquiries.
Macao Food Guide during Spring Festival
MGTO has published the Macao Food Guide during Spring Festival (Chinese version only) together with the General Union of Neighbors Association of Macau, the United Association of Food and Beverage Merchants of Macao, the Industry and Commerce Association of Macau Northern District, the Industry and Commerce Federation of Macau Central and Southern District as well as the Industry and Commerce Federation of Islands of Macao, to offer a contact list of restaurants and eateries open during Chinese New Year. The food guide can be obtained at MGTO’s Tourist Information counters, or viewed on MGTO’s website and WeChat ID, enabling residents and visitors to obtain the operation status of relevant restaurants.
Wonderful festivities to share the joy of Chinese New Year
To enrich the festive experience of residents and visitors, MGTO will roll out a series of activities during Chinese New Year, including “2020 Chinese New Year Celebration activities” on the 1st Day (25th January) and 2nd Day (26th January) of Lunar New Year, featuring the God of Fortune, the three Gods of Happiness, Prosperity and Longevity, the 12 Chinese Zodiac Mascots, Entourage Boy and Girl, Macao Tourism Mascot “MAK MAK”, as well as the dragon and lion dance teams who will convey warm wishes and distribute “Lai Si” and souvenirs to residents and visitors around the city. The “Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Rat” will be staged on the 3rd day (27th January) and 8th day (1st February) of Lunar New Year. Nine performance teams from different countries and regions will take the lead to perform at various tourist attractions and neighborhoods on the 1st Day and 2nd Day of Lunar New Year to spark the ambience before their dazzling appearance in the Parade. In addition, the Fireworks Display for Celebration of Chinese New Year will take place on the 3rd night (27th January) of Lunar New Year. The Chinese New Year Festivities Program can be acquired from MGTO’s Tourist Information counters or viewed on MGTO’s website.
Residents and visitors can visit MGTO’s website (www.macaotourism.gov.mo), MGTO’s WeChat ID “MGTOweixin”, Facebook page (Stopover Macao) and so forth, or download a range of free mobile apps from App Store or Google Play, including “What’s On, Macao”, “Experience Macao” and “Step Out, Macao”, to learn more about travel in Macao and the relevant activities.
