The World Tourism Day is designated on 27 September annually. Carrying on this long-held tradition, Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) welcomed the Lucky Tourists, followed by the “Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Macao SAR 2024 World Tourism Day Tray Race” held in the afternoon to celebrate the World Tourism Day together with residents and visitors. The Tray Race teemed with lively vibes and showed the city’s vitality as a world centre of tourism and leisure.
Lucky Tourists revisit Macao for five nights
Deputy Director Ricky Hoi welcomed and presented souvenirs and electronic consumption cards to the Lucky Tourists on the World Tourism Day at Macau International Airport today (27 September). The Lucky Tourists were encouraged to explore and spend in local neighborhoods for community travel experience. Coming from Indonesia, Samiton Pangellah and his family are happy and honored to become the Lucky Tourists of this year. Samiton Pangellah expressed that this is his second trip to Macao. He knows about the rich history of Macao. He and his family are traveling in a tour group and staying in Macao for five nights. They will visit historic and cultural attractions as well as restaurants for a taste of delicacies. He is looking forward to an encounter with wonderful weather, nice food and friendly locals on this journey.
Souvenirs were distributed to visitors at MGTO’s Tourist Information counters throughout the day, to promote the World Tourism Day as a global tourism occasion.
MGTO debuts Macao Tourism AI Chatbot
Riding on the World Tourism Day activity, MGTO presented an introduction of the newly-launched Macao Tourism AI Chatbot to media at its Tourist Information counter in Macau International Airport. Jointly developed by MGTO, CTM and Baidu, the Macao Tourism AI Chatbot is built on a large language model called Ernie and provides a wide diversity of tourism-related information including Macao’s history and culture, tourist attractions, entertainment and leisure, shopping, hotels, restaurants, awarded businesses under the Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme, Distinctive Shops, gastronomic KOLs’ recommendations, weather, tour routes and entry/departure. The new chatbot is available in Traditional and Simplified Chinese, English, Korean and Thai at the first stage. Visitors and residents can use the chatbot on MGTO’s destination promotion website and the mobile application of “Experience Macao”. More languages will be successively available in the future for users of different nationalities.
Celebrate 25th Anniversary of the establishment of the Macao SAR through Tray Race
The traditional Tray Race was held in the afternoon. Divided into male and female categories, the Tray Race presented the first, second and third prizes as well as the Best Costume Award in each category. 225 contestants representing 34 local hotels and restaurants participated in the Tray Race this year. In celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of the Macao SAR, contestants were lined up in the pattern of the number “25” for group photo at the Ruins of St. Paul’s before setting off. The Best Costume Award was themed as “100% Celebration” with a greater cash prize this year. Contestants were encouraged to wear colorful outfits sparking joy in celebration of the anniversary.
Exciting Tray Race attracts visitors’ gaze
The contestants set off from the Ruins of St. Paul’s, each balancing a bottle of Macau Beer on their tray. They ran down the lanes through the Historic Centre of Macao and delivered the beer safely to the finish line at Senado Square the fastest they could. The Race was filled with excitement, attracting visitors and residents who took photos and cheered for contestants on the way. The event manifested the vitality and charm of the destination.
The first prize in the male category went to Wu Caiyuan on behalf of Studio City Hotel, whereas Deng Lingzhi from The Londoner Macao won the first prize in the female category. The Best Costume Awards in the male and female categories were presented to Tat Thuan from Galaxy Entertainment Group and You Fei, Chan Hio Lam, Chu Sau Ling and Mak Mei Chan representing Hotel Central.
New Mascots Fun Run enlivens the Race further
This year, the Tray Race featured a new category of Mascots Fun Run, joined by 18 mascots including MGTO’s Tourism Mascot MAK MAK, as well as others from Cultural Affairs Bureau, the integrated resort enterprises, community organizations and retail businesses in Macao, as well as a tourism-related enterprise in Hengqin. Public Security Police Force also sent its Ambassador to sound the air horn for the start of the Mascots Fun Run. Each wearing a bib with the number “25”, the mascots set off from MinM Plaza to march towards the finishing point at Senado Square in a lively way. It was a fun scene radiant with joyful vibes.
In the category of Mascots Fun Run, the first prize went to MAK MAK of MGTO. The second prize was presented to Wing Wing and Lei Lei of Wynn Macau, Limited while the third prize was awarded to Wavey of Galaxy Entertainment Group.
“Tourism and Peace”
Since 1980, UN Tourism has designated 27 September as the annual World Tourism Day with the objective to promote awareness on the importance of tourism across the international community, especially regarding its social, cultural, political and economic value. The World Tourism Day 2024 is themed around “Tourism and Peace”, which highlights the vital role of the tourism sector in fostering peace and understanding between nations and cultures and in supporting reconciliation processes.
For more information, please visit the official website: https://www.un.org/en/observances/tourism-day.
