With the advent of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday in succession this year, the eight-day holiday (29 September - 6 October) will begin in the Mainland this Friday. Macao will soon welcome the first National Day Golden Week holiday since travel restrictions were lifted. Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has been actively making a variety of preparations. A promotional campaign is rolled out towards visitors and industry operators to offer useful information, raise their awareness as well as conduct patrols and supervision. The Office also maintains close communication with Mainland tourism authorities. The endeavors aim to safeguard tourism service quality and brand the destination.

Safe Trip in Macao

MGTO has officially sought the assistance of the Mainland tourism department concerned to release Macao travel information on the National Day holiday to Mainland visitors and industry operators, including real-time border-crossing information, group tours, hotel accommodation, shopping and things to take note of before and during trips to Macao in typhoon season. The Office also produced and released the infographic and promotional video entitled “Safe Trip in Macao” for visitors’ information on MGTO’s website and different social platforms, while visitors can obtain the promotional pamphlet “Safe Trip in Macao” at MGTO’s Tourist Information counters.

Master travel information for trip planning

Through MGTO’s destination marketing website (https://www.macaotourism.gov.mo) and “Experience Macao” mobile application, visitors can tailor their own trip itineraries and also conveniently learn about Macao’s latest tourist attractions, activities, events and festivals, restaurants, hotels, entertainment, shopping and more. Besides, they can follow MGTO’s official accounts on social media (WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Tiktok, Xiaohongshu, Facebook and Instagram) for more information.

For the public’s information, room rates in different room categories declared by local hotels are regularly publicized on MGTO’s website (https://www.dst.gov.mo), whereas MGTO’s online platform Macao Tourism Data plus (http://dataplus.macaotourism.gov.mo) will post provisional visitor arrival figures of every previous day between 30 September and 7 October.

Smart application for visitor flows

MGTO encourages visitors to harness the “smart application for visitor flows” to check the forecast of visitor flows at over 115 tourist attractions in Macao on the website (https://poimonitor.macaotourism.gov.mo), to facilitate sightseeing in staggered periods. By accessing the Public Security Police Force’s “Real-Time Information Platform of Border Ports” (http://www.fsm.gov.mo/psp/pspmonitor) via mobile phone or computer, visitors can also check real-time border-crossing images at various ports of entry for better timing of arrival and departure.

Enjoy wondrous fireworks to celebrate National Day

The 31^st Macao International Fireworks Display Contest stages dazzling fireworks on 11, 16 and 23 September, 1 and 7 October. On the National Day (1 October), fireworks companies from China and Portugal will present fireworks for a joyful celebration with residents and visitors. The Fireworks Carnival is held next to the Macau Tower from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on the fireworks evenings, whereas the “Fireworks Extravaganza” markets go on at Anim’Arte NAM VAN and Leisure Area on Taipa Waterfront, which spark greater vibes and invigorate the nighttime economy. For more information about the 31^st Macao International Fireworks Display Contest, please visit the website: https://fireworks.macaotourism.gov.mo/.

Colorful activities boost community tourism

Through the specialized subsidy programs, MGTO continues to encourage local community organizations to organize a diversity of tourism activities and projects to inject momentum into the community economy. Different fascinating activities will unfold in communities during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day Holiday, such as “The Story Vendor – the Sino-Portuguese Culture" puppet performance next to Flower City Park in Taipa on 30 September and Largo Maia de Magalhães on 1 October. “Taste Island．Mid-Autumn Gourmet Marketplace” will take place at Largo Camões da Taipa (in front of Pak Tai Temple) from 29 September to 1 October. Travessa do Armazém Velho Festival 2023 will be held in the vicinity of Rua dos Ervanários and Travessa do Armazém Velho from 30 September to 29 October. For more monthly city highlights, please refer to What’s On: https://www.macaotourism.gov.mo/en/events/whatson/.

The pedestrian area of ​​Rua da Felicidade will be put into testing operation from 11 a.m. until 1 a.m. daily starting from 29 September. Visitors are welcome to explore the area for the colorful experiences of “tourism +”.  

Special arrangements at Macao Grand Prix Museum

The Macao Grand Prix Museum keeps optimizing and introducing new elements to enrich the experience of museumgoers. This March, the Museum collaborates with Madame Tussauds Hong Kong to exhibit the wax figures of eight internationally-renowned racing drivers at the Museum. In June, the new Motorcycle Racing Simulator was launched for interactive fun. Normally closed on Tuesdays, the Museum will be open on 3 October as a special arrangement for the National Day holiday. For ticketing, please visit the official website: mgpm.macaotourism.gov.mo/en.

Online–offline promotional campaign

MGTO vigorously plans and rolls out an online-offline promotional campaign while highlighting the fascination of community travel on social media. Over 20 KOLs have been recently invited to Macao to showcase travel fun in the Northern District. Furthermore, the “Experience Macao, Unlimited” Campaign for monthly city highlights continues to highlight the kaleidoscope of events and activities under a different theme each month, including “Autumn Delights” and “Festive October” for September and October. Via mega online travel platforms in the Mainland, the Office continues to offer hotel coupons to visitors. Stackable special offers and co-brand gift boxes are launched specially for the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday. The longer visitors stay in Macao, the more special offers they can enjoy, an incentive for longer trips in the city. MGTO also carries on with its partnership with airlines in launching special offers on air tickets in different visitor markets, for market development and diversification.

Macao Courtesy Campaign continues

MGTO launched the Macao Courtesy Campaign in early July and unfolded a series of promotional initiatives, including promotions on radio and MGTO’s social media platforms. A series of promotional videos are produced for release on local TV channels, buses, taxis and so forth. Promotional posters and print advertisements are produced for bus advertisements, advertising light boxes at ports of entry, banners and so on. The message of courtesy for visitors is promoted among Macao residents, with the dedication to branding Macao as a hospitable city.

Destination branding by supervision and dissemination

For the advent of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, MGTO has sent letters to industry operators to raise their awareness on different aspects. In addition, the Office has stepped up cross-departmental inspections and supervision at various ports of entry, tourist attractions and shopping areas in collaboration with the Public Security Police Force, Labour Affairs Bureau, Consumer Council and Macao Customs Service. The Office also maintains regular communication and exchange of information with the Economic and Technological Development Bureau, Consumer Council, Municipal Affairs Bureau, Transport Bureau and so forth, while maintaining close communication with Mainland tourism authorities through the established communication scheme for timely exchange and collaboration on tourism market regulation. 

In consideration of the situations, MGTO will duly increase manpower at Tourist Information counters to attend to visitors’ enquiries, while the Tourism Hotline (853) 2833 3000 will operate 24-hours as usual. Upon reports of emergencies, the Office will handle accordingly.