Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has completed the “Macao Tourism Branding and Media Effectiveness Evaluation of Mega Events” of 2018. All of the four major events reached an above-average level of satisfaction and a high level of public awareness, reflecting media’s and netizens’ satisfaction and relatively strong awareness towards the events. The volume of media coverage on the four events constituted over 30% of total media coverage on Macao as a travel destination throughout the year, mirroring the positive impact of these events on Macao’s destination branding.
MGTO organizes a diverse range of mega events and activities every year with the aim to widen the spectrum of fascinating event experiences for both Macao residents and visitors from worldwide. In 2017, MGTO commenced on the “Macao Tourism Branding and Media Effectiveness Evaluation of Mega Events” (referred to as the “Media Effectiveness Evaluation”) to study the level of media effectiveness among mega events. Last year, the Office again commissioned a research entity to conduct a comprehensive assessment on four mega events including “Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Dog”, “29th Macao International Fireworks Display Contest”, “3rd International Film Festival & Awards‧Macao” and “Macao Light Festival 2018”. Analytical studies were carried out to examine the relevance of the four aforementioned events with Macao’s destination branding.
Research method and summary of findings
To gain deeper insights into the outcomes and effectiveness of the four events, the Media Effectiveness Evaluation measured a range of variables including the number of articles covering the events, times of relevant interactions on social media as well as the level of awareness and satisfaction by probing into the volume of coverage and comments of various media (including traditional media, social media and travel websites) around the globe. Following the findings about the “Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Dog” and “29th Macao International Fireworks Display Contest” delivered last November, the results of the evaluation about the other two events are now summed up as follows:
“3rd International Film Festival & Awards‧Macao”
- The event was covered/featured by a total of 101,768 articles, of which the largest proportion came from social media with 97,563 articles (95.9%), followed by traditional media (print media and online media) coverage in 4,193 articles (4.1%). There were 12.73 million times of interactions about the event on social media.
- The level of awareness about the event reached an excellent level of 97.7 out of 100.
- The overall level of satisfaction towards the event reached an above-average level of 72.3 out of 100.
“Macao Light Festival 2018”
- The event was covered/featured by a total of 24,261 articles. The largest proportion came from social media with 22,525 articles (92.8%), followed by traditional media (print media and online media) coverage in 1,656 articles (6.8%). Social media enabled 12.37 million times of interactions about the event.
- The level of awareness about the event reached an excellent level of 98.1 out of 100.
- The overall level of satisfaction towards the event reached an above-average level of 71.7 out of 100.
Summary of evaluation findings
| |
Total volume of media coverage (number of articles) |
Level of awareness (0-100 marks) |
Level of satisfaction (0-100 marks) |
| Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Dog |
4,008 |
84.5 |
82.9 |
| 29th Macao International Fireworks Display Contest |
12,573 |
98.1 |
73.5 |
| 3rd International Film Festival & Awards‧Macao |
101,768 |
97.7 |
72.3 |
| Macao Light Festival 2018 |
24,261 |
98.1 |
71.7 |
The total volume of media coverage refers to the number of articles which include relevant keywords on traditional media, social media and travel websites, measured during the monitoring period. Irrelevant articles were excluded from the total count.
Besides examining each of the four mega events individually, the evaluation also analyzed their relevance with Macao’s destination branding. A study revealed that the total volume of media coverage on Macao as a travel destination comprised over 450,000 articles, of which more than 140,000 articles covered the four events and accounted for over 30% of total media coverage about the destination, reflecting the positive impact of these events on Macao’s destination branding.
Suggestions of research team
The distribution of media coverage on the four mega events suggests that social media remained a major platform for relevant public opinion about the four events. Given its highly diffusive effect, social media favors dialogues with the public. The research team hence suggests casting higher attention on discussions about the events concerned on social media. In addition, the findings revealed that social media enables a high level of social interaction. If famed celebrities, travel bloggers and online influencers can be invited to engage in event promotion through their posts on social media accounts, it will widen the exposure of the events and amplify the promotional effect. Official accounts of governmental entities and events for promotional purpose on social media also demonstrate a certain degree of influence. It is therefore suggested to harness the power of social media to a greater extent, such as leveraging promotional posts on themed webpages and accounts of media, celebrities, travel bloggers, official entities or events for promotional purpose.
MGTO will take into consideration the suggestions of the research team and keep optimizing events and activities, to provide more enriching event experiences for locals and visitors and reinforce Macao’s destination brand as a City of Events.
Summary of the report (Chinese)
http://industry.macaotourism.gov.mo/file/pdf/Events_MediaEffectivenessStudy_20190703_cn.pdf
Summary of the report (English)
http://industry.macaotourism.gov.mo/file/pdf/Events_MediaEffectivenessStudy_20190703_en.pdf
