Committed to the “1+4” development strategy for adequate diversification, Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) keeps deepening integration across the sectors of “tourism +”. Following Macao’s lifting of border restrictions early this year, marketing campaigns have unfolded in different visitor markets, followed by a steady rise in visitor arrivals. The fruition is significant so far. MGTO is dedicated to steering forward the concerted development between tourism and other related sectors, enrich the variety of tourism offerings, widen the source of visitations and set off the leading momentum of integrated tourism for adequate economic diversification and revival in Macao.
Tourism trends bespeak great progress of recovery
Cumulative visitor arrivals exceeded 19.928 million from January to September 2023, a year-on-year surge of over 3.5 fold from the corresponding period in 2022. The daily average of visitors topped 73,000, a rebound to 66.0% of the corresponding figure in 2019. International visitor arrivals reached 860,000 in the first nine months, which increased by over 218 fold year on year, equivalent to 36.3% of the corresponding figure in 2019. The hotel occupancy rate averaged 80.9% between January and August, a year-on-year rise of 43.4 percentage points and a mere difference of 9.9 percentage points lower than the corresponding rate of 90.8% in 2019. The volume of hotel overnight guests topped 8.657 million between January and August 2023, which climbed year on year by 161.2% and rebounded more significantly to 91.8% of the corresponding figure in 2019.
Collaborate with industry operators to deepen “tourism +” for industry diversification
In accord with the SAR Government’s “1+4” development strategy for adequate diversification, MGTO capitalizes on the integrated development of “tourism +” to enhance the concerted development and profound integration between tourism and other related industries including culture and creativity, sports, MICE, gastronomy as well as health and wellness. The new gaming concession contracts took effect on 1 January 2023. According to the provisions of the contracts, the concessionaires progressively implement their investment plans and assist with development of international visitor markets through non-gaming elements such as MICE, entertainment shows, sports events, culture and art, health and wellness, themed parks, City of Gastronomy, community tourism and maritime tourism.
Amalgam of innovative events creates wonderful experiences
MGTO organized an array of prestigious events to boost the synergy of tourism and events, MICE, e-commerce, gastronomy, culture and creativity, to enrich travelers’ experiences and extend their length of stay Injecting impetus to the nighttime and community economy, the four nighttime events namely Light up Macao 2022, 2023 Parade for Celebration of the Year of the Rabbit, Chinese New Year Fireworks Display and 31st Macao International Fireworks Display Contest, engaged over 7.24 million spectators in aggregate.
Diverse activities lead visitor flows into communities and raise consumer spending
Through the specialized subsidy programs namely “Development of community tourism and economy”, “Gastronomic culture promotion” and “Maritime tourism”, MGTO encourages community organizations to organize a variety of activities infused with distinctive resources in different local districts, attracting visitors into communities for sightseeing and revitalizing the community tourism and economy with a fresh impetus. The Office has widened the categories of “tourism +” for the specialized subsidy programs to push forward cross-sector integration of “tourism + sports, culture, creativity and technology”. Community organizations were subsidized in organizing 16 activities in total between April and September 2023. The activities engaged about 536,000 participants and 740 businesses in total.
Macao Grand Prix Museum introduces new features
The Macao Grand Prix Museum (the “Museum”) continues to introduce new exhibit features and activities for a greater synergy of “tourism + sports”. This year, MGTO and Madame Tussauds Hong Kong join hands to exhibit the wax figures of eight internationally-acclaimed racing drivers at the Museum. The Museum also debuted the new Motorcycle Racing Simulator, besides the latest launch of special activities and arrangements in November for the 70th Macau Grand Prix, which include a brand-new virtual reality (VR) experience for VR 360° race replay and the mapping show of “Macao Grand Prix Museum Chronicles: 70 Legendary Years” upon the exterior wall of the Museum. Innovative endeavors are made to boost the appeal of the Museum and enrich museumgoers’ experience. Close to 101,000 people visited the Museum between January and September 2023.
MITE radiates international influence and boosts synergy of “tourism +”
The Macao International Travel (Industry) Expo (“MITE” or the “Expo”) supported tourism and related industry operators to navigate business opportunities and fostered the tourism economy. Committed to the “1+4” development strategy for adequate diversification, the 11th MITE debuted the “1+4” Pavilion to create a new platform for cooperation in “tourism +” this year. Industry delegates were gathered from worldwide to connect and tap into possibilities of cooperation. The Expo featured the most booths and engaged the highest number of exhibitors and hosted buyers since inception. 37,000 visitors were admitted to the three-day Expo. The cumulative count of live-stream views neared 7.57 million. Over 8,300 online and offline business matching sessions were conducted, and 44 contracts were signed.
Online-offline destination branding worldwide for market diversification
MGTO has been carrying out an array of online-offline promotional campaigns and marketing measures in various visitor markets near and far, dedicated to expanding the diversity of market segments and international visitor markets. For e-marketing, in view of users’ social network preferences in different visitor markets, MGTO has opened 24 platforms on social media such as WeChat, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, YouTube, Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Line and Kakao Talk, engaging over 6.13 million followers.
For market diversification, the Office has been branding the destination in collaboration with widely-influential international mainstream media, major e-commerce platforms, as well as celebrities and social media KOLs coming to Macao for events. Up to October 2023, over 100 travel influencers have been invited from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea and the United States to experience and spotlight innovative “tourism +” offerings in Macao.
Spotlight fascinating “tourism +” overseas
In terms of offline marketing, the “Experience Macao Unlimited – Macao Promotion in Lisbon” culminated in success this April. The promotional event represented the SAR Government’s restart of destination marketing in Europe. Encompassing an exhibition, mapping show, presentation seminar and the trade’s familiarization visit, the event featured various non-gaming themed booths and installations for destination branding, which showcased the city’s offer of new travel experiences. On the other hand, the Office hosted roadshows and trade networking seminars in Thailand, Korea and Malaysia, besides participating in major international travel fairs in overseas markets. Furthermore, the Office arranged for overseas trade and media delegations to visit Macao, as part of the effort to promote Macao’s vibrant scene of “tourism +” and tap into international visitor markets.
Mainland roadshows manifest the charm of “tourism +”
Besides international marketing endeavors, MGTO has also been forging ahead to develop the Mainland market. By October 2023, MGTO has organized Macao weeks in Qingdao (Shandong), Tianjin and Xiamen (Fujian) successively. The three Macao weeks attracted close to 3 million spectators in total. In addition, the “Experience Macao, Unlimited” Caravan Roadshow Series across the Greater Bay Area were held in Guangzhou, Jiangmen, Huizhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan and Zhaoqing in succession this year, following the caravan roadshows in Zhuhai and Zhongshan last year (2022). The seven roadshows in 2023 attracted over 2.41 million spectators in total.
Special offers on hotels and land, sea and air transport
Through the scheme “My Treat for You, See You in Macao”, MGTO continues to roll out special offers on air ticket, hotel and other travel products in the Mainland market. Targeting international visitor markets this year, the Office has also launched the special offer of “buy-one-get-one-free” air tickets and half-price hotel coupons, while leveraging the offer to promote the latest information about the destination, events, festivals and so forth, to attract more international travelers, stimulate tourist spending and extend their length of stay. Between January and September 2023, over 994,000 room nights were redeemed from half-price hotel coupons, which drove transactions worth almost 1,030 million RMB. The “buy-one-get-one-free” air ticket offer led to booking of nearly 106,000 air tickets and drove transactions worth close to 152 million patacas.
Through the “My Treat for You, Joyful Macao Tour” Subsidy Scheme, the Office seeks to attract more visitors from the Mainland, Taiwan region and international markets to experience Macao on group tours. From 2 February to 30 September 2023, subsidy applications for 11,649 tour groups were received, involving 312,499 participants who stayed for an average of 2.4 days.
MGTO rolled out “Macao Treat” — the buy-one-get-one-free special offer for purchase of Hong Kong – Macao shuttle bus and ferry tickets from 13 January to 30 June this year, to attract Hong Kong residents as well as Taiwan region and international visitors in Hong Kong to Macao. The special offer was used on about 295,000 bus and ferry tickets in aggregate.
To tap visitor markets with direct air routes to Macao, MGTO has launched special offers on direct flight tickets between international destinations and Macao in partnership with airlines, to enhance the destination appeal with both the connectivity and air ticket discount. The Office also keeps promoting the cross-border bus service between the SkyPier Terminal at Hong Kong International Airport and the Macao Port at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge as a favorable transport measure to attract more international visitors.
Promote technology application in tourism
MGTO is dedicated to enhancing travelers’ experience with innovative technology. “Tourism + technology” booths were set up in MITE this year and in various community events from September onwards, for participants to revisit the inaugural edition of the Macau Grand Prix through VR and enjoy artificial-intelligence interactive games about Macao’s intangible cultural heritage. Besides promoting Macao’s major events and cultural gems, application of innovative technology in tourism is introduced to residents and visitors to offer them a window onto “tourism + technology”. Furthermore, MGTO has created several VR videos for participants’ enjoyment at the Macao Weeks, “Experience Macao, Unlimited” Caravan Roadshows across Greater Bay Area, 11th MITE, overseas travel fairs as well as mega consumer roadshows.
Promote the status of City of Gastronomy through integration of tourism and gastronomy
Since UNESCO’s designation of Macao as a Creative City of Gastronomy in 2017, MGTO has been committed to promoting this prestigious international status through different ways and platforms, including Macao weeks and MITE. During MITE this year, representatives and chefs from 23 UNESCO Creative Cities of Gastronomy including Macao joined the City of Gastronomy Showcase for 24 culinary demonstrations as an exchange of gastronomic culture. The Office also vigorously engaged in exchanges with other Creative Cities of Gastronomy worldwide and participated in both online and offline international events and seminars to raise Macao’s international profile as a Creative City of Gastronomy. Moreover, relevant training programs were organized by the Office for members of the trade. This year, MGTO also joined as one of the organizers of the 2nd “Crunch and Munch Fair in Macao – Fiesta for Five” to deepen integration of tourism and gastronomy for greater destination appeal.
In parallel with the SAR Government’s “1+4” development strategy for adequate diversification, the Office will continue todeepen integration across the sectors of “tourism +” and foster the interactive development between tourism and other related industries. Vigorous endeavors will be made to develop the integrated tourism and leisure industry, in turn propelling the development of the four major industries including health and wellness, modern financial services, innovative technology, conferences and exhibitions, commerce and trade, as well as culture and sports, to invigorate the community tourism and economy, create business opportunities and spur economic revival in Macao.
