The “Macao Week in Jiangsu”, which was held by the Macao SAR Government, just arrived its third destination, in order to build an exchange platform to intensify Jiangsu-Macao and Nanjing-Macao co-operation, linking up their respective advantages in terms of tourism and MICE resources. It also allowed Macao companies to seek for potential partners in local tourism and MICE sectors, for greater development and to expand markets for both regions.
The Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) organised 20 Macao MICE delegates and arranged for 23 Made-in-Macao and Macao Brands companies, as well as Macao agencies of Portuguese-speaking countries’ products to join the “Macao Week in Jiangsu”. IPIM also held the “Jiangsu-Macao Tourism and MICE Promotion Session” and “Nanjing-Macao Business Matching Session”.
Macao Companies Get Inspiration from Their Counterparts in Nanjing and Plan to Develop Online Platform
According to Ms Tang, representative of Fab. de Art. de Vest. Lek Hac Lda. from Macao, she met with five Nanjing companies, which she considered prospect partners. Having exchanged ideas with local enterprises, she was inspired by their e-commerce platforms. Since the companies she met were satisfied with her products, she hoped to join Mainland China’s market through online platforms and gain more experience by joining similar matching activities in the future.
President of the Macau Federal Commercial Association of Convention & Exhibition Industry Wu Kam Hon – also a Macao MICE delegate – said that his participation in the “Macao Week” in Hangzhou and Jiangsu enabled him to have deeper understanding of these markets. He found that the MICE sector in Mainland China was very interested in exploring business opportunities in Macao, since Macao has abundant MICE facilities, which brings more advantages when hosting MICE activities. He looked forward to taking part in different exchange platforms in the future, so as to deepen the collaboration in commercial tourism and MICE tourism, and intensify the “tourism + MICE” synergy.
Nanjing Tourism Industry Expects MICE Experience Sharing
According to Ms Cheong, representative of Macau Explore Cultural Travel, the efficacy of joining the event went beyond her expectation, as many people enquired about Macao’s featured tours and business travel services. In her opinion, Nanjing’s customers are very important to Macao. In addition, tourists partaking in MICE activities tend to stay in Macao for a longer period of time, so she hoped to bring more similar travelers to Macao. After meeting with the local MICE sector, she came to know that more and more Nanjing business travelers were interested in organising MICE activities in Macao, which was a piece of good news to her because these visitors did not only look for quality hotel accommodation and MICE venues, they could also stimulate Macao’s community’s economic growth when they explore the city’s community, cultural heritage sites and try out Macao’s delicacies.
Ms Zhang, Vice General Manager of Nanjing Orient International Travel Service Co. Ltd, said that she had been to Macao’s hotels and found that Macao offers so many options in terms of venues, and that the city is rich in human resources and facilities. She was optimistic about Macao’s future development. She also mentioned about the reason for joining the matching session. Having survived the pandemic’s impact, her company was closely observing the MICE industry and switched its focus to business travelers. Since her company planned to strengthen their MICE-related services, she joined the event in order to meet with Macao’s traveling agencies and hotels, and learn from Macao’s experience in hosting MICE activities.
Nanjing Companies Intend to Hold Conferences in Macao
At the “Nanjing-Macao Business Matching Session”, some Nanjing companies asked questions about staging conferences in Macao. According to Ms Wang, Director of External Affairs of Nanjing RIGO Culture Communication Co., Ltd., her company mainly offered branding services and was interested in helping local companies to hold annual summits and annual conferences in Macao. Therefore, she participated in the matching session and enquired about IPIM’s “One-stop Service” for MICE Bidding and Support in Macao, as well as information of activity planning. In her opinion, Macao has implemented effective pandemic control measures discreetly, the city has convenient air transportation, it is highly recognisable to people in Mainland China and the city has international hotels, all of which make Macao an ideal stage for MICE events.
With a view to better demonstrating Macao’s “tourism + MICE” advantages, aside from holding business matching and networking activities in every pole of the “Macao Week”, IPIM and the Macao Government Tourism Office held the “Macao Tourism & MICE Promotion Seminar” in five Greater Bay Area cities in April and March. The seminars allowed MICE specialists from these regions to meet and know each other via networking and exchange activities. By creating more co-operation opportunities for tourism and MICE sectors from Macao and these regions, these activities aimed to usher different types of MICE activities into Macao.
