Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) and Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) invited over 120 tourism industry professionals from across Asia, the Americas, Europe, Australia and Russia to take part in the 7th Macao International Travel (Industry) Expo (referred to as the “Expo” or “MITE”). Most of them also leveraged the opportunity to pay an inspection visit to cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to tap into new possibilities for tourism cooperation across the Greater Bay Area.
MITE is dedicated to delivering a platform that pushes forward industry exchange and tourism development in the Greater Bay Area. As the Organizer, MGTO continues to bring together industry operators from a greater diversity of geographic locations at the Expo, a platform they can ride on to explore new possibilities unlocked by the Greater Bay Area development for tourism cooperation, thus fostering multi-destination tourism development.
Last year, the Expo organized an inspection visit for industry delegates to Foshan, Guangzhou and Kaiping in Guangdong for a first-hand experience of the multi-destination tour routes. Carrying on to provide similar opportunities this year, MGTO and HKTB invited industry delegates from the United States, Portugal, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan Region to pay a familiarization visit to Guangzhou, Zhaoqing, Jiangmen, Macao and Hong Kong for an overview of the cities’ tourism situation and their famous attractions.
The delegates arrived at the first stop of their visit – Guangzhou, where they enjoyed a nighttime ferry tour along Pearl River. Their itinerary continued with a visit to Dinghu Mountain and Seven-Star Crags in Zhaoqing as well as Bird Paradise and Wuyi Overseas Chinese Museum in Jiangmen, followed by a visit to Macao for the World Heritage attractions, the cultural and creative industries zones and the Taipa Village, as well as a maritime sightseeing tour. Following MITE, the delegations headed to the last stop of their familiarization visit, Hong Kong, via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, to visit Victoria Dockside and theme park, besides engaging in a trade networking session.
During their stay in different cities, the delegates met with the tourism authorities, industry operators and journalists in Guangzhou, Zhaoqing, Jiangmen and Hong Kong successively. Director of Guangzhou Municipal Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau, Liu Yumei, Vice Mayor of the People’s Government of Zhaoqing Municipality, Chen Xuanqun, Director of Zhaoqing Municipal Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau, Li Peirong, Director of Jiangmen Municipal Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau, Tang Huihong, and Regional Director – Southeast Asia at HKTB, Raymond Chan, also attended the occasions.
MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes and Head of Destination Marketing Department of MGTO, Betty Fok, joined the delegates on their visit to Guangzhou, Zhaoqing and Jiangmen, together with representatives of Macau Travel Agency Association, Association of Macao Tourist Agents and Travel Industry Council of Macau. MGTO hopes that industry delegates from worldwide can leverage their participation in MITE in Macao to visit the Greater Bay Area for an update of the latest tourism landscape of various cities and a closer encounter with the new possibilities for tourism cooperation across the Greater Bay Area. The visit, she believes, will inspire industry delegates with new ideas for development and promotion of multi-destination tour routes to the Greater Bay Area, besides strengthening networking, exchange and cooperation between domestic and international industry operators.
The Macao Special Administrative Region is keenly participating in the national developments of the Belt and Road and the Greater Bay Area, which, in addition to the inauguration of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, have altogether brought forth new opportunities and challenges for Macao’s tourism industry. Looking into the future, MGTO will forge ahead with its commitment to push forward the development of the Greater Bay Area as a travel destination, build the “Belt and Road” tourism brand and deepen multi-destination travel experiences. By engaging in the work of the Tourism Federation of Cities in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Bay Area, the Office is joining various member cities in building a world-class travel destination.
