News

In review of the Macao tourism industry in 2015, due to a number of external factors such as instability of international economic environment, stock market plunge, exchange rate movements, particularly the exchange rate adjustment in neighboring regions, Macao's tourism industry had to face greater competition. The number of visitor arrivals was slightly down by 2.6% compared with 2014 to a total of 30,714,628, which was in line with the forecast of over 30 million by Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) earlier. As the largest source market of Macao, visitors from Mainland China totaled 20.41 million, down by 4% compared with 2014, occupying 66.5% of the total visitor arrivals in 2015. In term of international market, many source markets began to stabilize in the second half of the year, especially the short-haul source markets. Asian markets beyond Mainland China recorded a growth of 0.6%. Among markets with registered growth include Vietnam (+ 13.3%), the Philippines (+ 5.3%), Taiwan (+ 3.6%), Thailand (+ 2.8%), Hong Kong (+ 1.7%) and India (+ 0.2%). The long-haul markets showed varied performance, with France (+ 2.4%), New Zealand (+ 2.0%), the US (+ 0.6%) and Canada (+ 0.5%) recording an increase, while the rest of the long-haul source markets showed declines to different degrees. Despite a slight decrease in total visitor arrivals in 2015, MGTO has actively made flexible adjustments starting from the 4th quarter of last year to coordinate related activities for tourism promotion. By unleashing the synergistic effect produced by different types of activities and mega events, MGTO aims to attract quality tourists from different source markets and further extend visitors’ length of stay. The tourism industry has achieved significantly better performance in the 4th quarter, with the scale of decrease in tourist arrivals narrowing down from 3.6% of the 1st quarter to 1.7%. In addition, the number of international tourist arrivals in the 4th quarter has experienced a more remarkable growth as well, marking a period-on-period increase of 3.9%. In particular, a combination of multiple mega events including Macau International Marathon, Parade through Macao, Latin City and Macao Light Festival in December 2015 had driven positive growths in a range of tourism figures such as total visitor arrivals, numbers of Greater China and international visitors, all of which registered an increase compared with the corresponding period of 2014. The average length of stay for overnight-stay visitors also increased when compared to the same period in 2014, with the ratio of overnight-stay visitors surpassing that of same-day visitors again since December 2012. With the five-year development plan proposed by the Committee for the Development of the World Centre of Tourism and Leisure, MGTO will work in line with Macao SAR Government’s administrative goal as it strives to foster moderate diversification and steady, sustainable development of tourism industry. Instead of pursuing after rapid growth in visitor arrivals, the Office will strive for a positive transformation in visitors’ style of travel, leading to a rise in the quality of visitations. In addition, MGTO seeks to carry out more effective promotional activities, forge deeper cooperation with members of travel trade and unfold new promotional projects together with different strategic partners. More than that, a variety of tourism packages will be launched to go hand in hand with different events and festivals. With such measures, the Office hopes to enhance the synergistic effect between tourism, cultural and sports events, while dedicated to fostering improvement of local tourism service quality such that Macao tourism industry will march toward healthy development. It is estimated that the number of visitor arrivals in 2016 will remain at a stable level. Regardless, it depends on the overall prospect of global economy. MGTO will closely monitor the latest economic trend and adjust its products and marketing strategies based on actual demand.
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The Government recently launched a promotional video of Macao’s Five-Year Development Plan, in a bid to provide to the public a better understanding of the plan that covers a period from 2016 to 2020. The video about it is the first in a planned series of information videos produced by the Committee for Development of the World Centre of Tourism and Leisure. Included in the first video are interviews with local scholars explaining from an academic perspective the vision and direction of the city’s first master development plan. The guest interviewees also explain to viewers the concepts used to form the plan, including its basics, its middle stage, its major targets, its sub-targets and the benchmarks to be used to evaluate the plan’s progress. The Director of the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming, University of Macau, Professor Fong Ka Chio, and the Professor of the Macao Polytechnic Institute, Mr Chan Chi Fong, are the two academic guests interviewed for the first video. Prof. Fong said the plan provided a clear policy direction and a systematic and strategic plan for Macao for the next five years. Prof. Chan said the next five years was crucial to realise the “Centre” policies. That refers to the strategy of transforming Macao into a world centre of tourism and leisure. The targets and tasks listed in the plan could expedite all-round development, added Prof. Chan. The first video and more information about the Five-Year Development Plan – in Macao’s official languages Chinese and Portuguese – is now available at the following places: the website of the Committee for Development of the World Centre of Tourism and Leisure (www.cccmtl.gov.mo); The website of the Chief Executive’s Office (www.gce.gov.mo); The official Youtube site of the Government Information Bureau (https://www.youtube.com/user/macaogcs). Members of the public can also view the video via mobile device, using the app “GCE Macao”. Currently, the Government is conducting a three-month public consultation, which invites comments from residents on how to transform Macao into an international city, one of the major targets of the Five-Year Development Plan. The consultation period ends on 16 February. Members of the public are welcome in the meantime to contribute their opinions using one of the following methods: via the website of the Committee for Development of the World Centre for Tourism and Leisure (http://www.cccmtl.gov.mo/); or by email to message@gep.gov.mo; or by fax to +853 2882 3426; or by telephone on +853 2882 3610.
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The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) and General Association of Chinese Students of Macao (AECM) are organising the participation of a group of 30 local students in the annual MaD (Make a Difference) Forum, a large-scale youth exchange event, to be held at the Kwai Tsing Theatre, in Hong Kong, from 22-24 January 2016. The event aims at inspiring MaD participants to develop their potential, view society from multiple perspectives and explore creativity, ultimately building a better civil society. MaD 2016 is themed “Village Reinvented”, prompting participants to explore their imagination in practical ways in a spirit of change. More than 1,000 youngsters in the fields of art, theatre, architecture, design, media and social innovation from over 170 Asian cities, will be engaged in cross-sector creative collaborations, as well as interacting with innovators and change makers, thereby broadening their international horizons while experiencing creativity. The 3-day event features a rich programme with renowned speakers from different areas from UK, USA, Hong Kong and Taiwan who were invited to share their experiences, as well as creative workshops and special programmes aimed at inspiring young people to practise brainstorming at an individual, economic, social and environmental level. Activity highlights include thematic exchanges at the three Villagers’ Assemblies, namely “Civic Interventions”—designed to engage citizens in their sense of belonging, to bring bottom-up innovation, and to inform the government with concrete examples and possibilities of improvement; “Open-source Inventions”—designed to explore the development of civic science across cultures, and also to work with environmental groups in Mainland China to obtain a rippling impact; and, “Land Story Writing”—in which, through writing, land and community art, endearing memories of the villagers and the land are recollected and registered, reflecting genuine indigenous values. Other interactive programmes include Open Studios, Chatrooms, Excursions, Cinema, Ripple Forum and The Free Market. Since 2011, IC has been co-operating with the AECM organising the participation of local students and youths in the annual MaD Forum managed by the Make A Difference Institute, in order to provide learning and exchange opportunities for young Macao talents and encourage them to explore their creativity.
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Consumer Council received a total of 7,439 cases last year, of which 1,914 cases were complaints, 5,499 cases were inquiries, and 26 cases were suggestions. The total number of cases of the top 5 categories of complaints amounted to 854, which was about 45 percent of the total. The top 5 categories were telecommunication equipment (303 cases), real estate (153 cases), telecommunication services (147 cases), public transportation (128 cases), and food and beverage (123 cases). A detailed analysis of the number of cases received in 2015 will be published later by the Council in its monthly magazine Consumer Report.
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The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, said he was paying close attention to the issues raised in a recent report by the Commission of Audit and the suggestions the Commission had made the report’s findings. Mr Leong made the comments on Thursday (21 January) after a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly. His remarks relate to a Commission of Audit report issued on Thursday. It includes suggestions to public administration departments for the improvement of their procedures for contracting outsourced services. The Secretary said he had directed departments under his portfolio to pay special attention to the suggestions raised in the audit report, particularly the parts related to the procedures of contracting outsourced labour services. He also ordered the departments to follow closely the legislation for the acquisition of such services. Mr Leong additionally said the Financial Services Bureau would take into account the suggestions of the audit report when preparing the report summarising execution of the budget proposals of all departments. The Bureau is responsible for submitting to the Commission of Audit an annual report on the Macao SAR Government’s budget and budget execution.
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The Cinematheque．Passion under the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) has entered the second phase of experimental operation. Apart from the “Temporary Venue Booking Programme of Cinematheque．Passion” which is open for the application by members of the film industry, filmmakers and film associations, IC will hold a series of film-themed talks starting from this month. Talks are open to the public with free admission. The Cinematheque will hold the first talk entitled “Film X Critique X Audience: A Film’s Triangular Relationships” on Saturday, 30 January, from 3pm to 5pm. Hong Kong film critic, Joyce Yang, will talk about topics such as “What is film critique?”, “Why is there a need for film critique?”, “Why audiences need film critiques?” and “The role of a critic”. Joyce Yang, an active film critic in Hong Kong and member of Hong Kong Film Critics Society, has been a planner and curator of Critic’s Choice. She also published critiques on HKinema, City Magazine and Hong Kong Film, and was an instructor in the film critique workshop “Film Critics” and the Educators Workshop of “Hong Kong International Film Festival”. Other upcoming talks feature a variety of topics, including the planning and coordination of a film festival, film marketing, film editing, cinematic sound effect, film arts, film costumes and film directing, in hope of familiarising the participants with the film industry. More details will be announced soon. Limited seats are available. All interested parties are welcome to enroll in the above-mentioned talk via email (info.dpicc@icm.gov.mo) indicating as subject ‘Enrollment for the talk “Film X Critique X Audience: A Film’s Triangular Relationships”’, as well as providing name, contact number and contact email, by 29 January 2016 at 12:00pm. For enquiries regarding the talk or the Cinematheque, please contact Mr. Leong though tel. no. (853) 2892 4040 during office hours. For details, please visit the Cultural Affairs Bureau website (www.icm.gov.mo) or the Macao Cultural and Creative Industries Website (www.macaucci.com).
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To facilitate the public and philatelists for ordering new philatelic products, please note the followings: * Annex Table
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals saw month-to-month increase in December, but the annual total for 2015 decreased by 2.6% year-on-year. Visitor arrivals totalled 2,634,098 in December 2015, up by 3.7% year-on-year and 1.7% month-to-month. Overnight visitors rose by 14.2% to 1,330,283, accounting for 50.5% of the total, the highest percentage recorded since January 2013. The average length of stay of visitors increased by 0.3 day year-on-year to 1.2 days; the average stay of overnight visitors (2.2 days) rose by 0.3 day while that of same-day visitors (0.2 day) remained unchanged. For the whole year of 2015, visitor arrivals totalled 30,714,628, down by 811,004 year-on-year; same-day visitors (16,406,861) and overnight visitors (14,307,767) decreased by 3.3% and 1.8% respectively. The average length of stay of visitors was 1.1 days in 2015, up by 0.1 day year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China increased by 1.1% year-on-year to 1,656,704 in December 2015, with those travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (736,950) edging down by 0.5%. Visitors from Hong Kong (591,319), the Republic of Korea (54,880) and Taiwan (85,129) increased by 8.3%, 15.9% and 8.9% respectively, while those from Malaysia (33,981) dropped slightly by 0.9%. Visitors from the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom registered year-on-year increase. Meanwhile, visitor arrivals by land (1,473,867) and by air (193,916) rose by 12.9% and 10.0% respectively year-on-year, while those arriving by sea (966,315) dropped by 8.7%. In 2015, visitors from Mainland China decreased by 4.0% year-on-year to 20,410,615, coming mainly from Guangdong Province (9,043,931), up modestly by 0.4%, followed by Fujian Province (872,291) and Hunan Province (810,502). Mainland visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme dropped by 0.5% year-on-year to 9,519,317, with 71.2% coming from Guangdong Province and 4.8% from Shanghai. Visitors from Hong Kong (6,534,543) and Taiwan (988,059) increased by 1.7% and 3.6%, while those from the Republic of Korea (554,177) edged down by 0.1%. Moreover, long-haul visitors from the United States (182,532) and Canada (70,973) rose marginally by 0.6% and 0.5% year-on-year respectively, while those from Australia (92,404) and the United Kingdom (59,985) declined by 12.8% and 1.3%. Overnight visitors decreased by 1.8% year-on-year to 14,307,767 in 2015, attributable to a 5.1% drop in those from Mainland China (9,234,150); meanwhile, overnight visitors from Hong Kong (3,065,380) and Taiwan (450,795) increased by 9.9% and 10.0%. Overnight visitors accounted for 46.6% of the total visitors, up by 0.4 percentage points. The average stay of overnight visitors (2.1 days) rose by 0.2 day, while that of same-day visitors (0.2 day) remained unchanged. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by land decreased by 1.0% year-on-year to 17,210,946; visitors arriving via the Border Gate (88.2% of total) dropped by 2.6% to 15,176,480, while those via the Checkpoint of Cotai (2,009,551) rose by 13.1%. Visitor arrivals by sea decreased by 5.5% year-on-year to 11,413,908, with those arriving via the Outer Harbour (6,992,837) and the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa (4,098,894) dropping by 5.0% and 3.4% respectively. Moreover, visitor arrivals by air increased by 1.7% year-on-year to 2,089,774, and those entering via the airport (2,076,926) rose by 2.5%.
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The Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT) is paying close attention to the serious road accident that occurred this morning in Nakatsugawa, Japan, and maintaining close contact with the Consulate-General of China in Nagoya for further developments. The GGCT and the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) regret the situation and express their condolences to the victim’s family and solidarity to the resident that is currently in serious condition. The Consulate-General of China in Nagoya informed GGCT today that two Macao residents were involved in a serious car accident, confirming that one Macao citizen male, aged 25, a current traffic police officer surnamed Kam passed away during the accident, while another Macao female resident, aged 25 and surnamed Chui, was seriously injured and brought to the hospital for treatment and is at this moment conscious. The family and friends of the victims have been in contact with the GGCT for information. The GGCT has been involved in the coordination and have been sharing of all the necessary information to the Public Security Police of Macau and the Identification Bureau for follow up of the accident. If necessary, Macao residents can call the 24-hour Tourism Hotline (853) 2833 3000.
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Consumer Council conducted its ‘Supermarket price survey’ in January on 21 January for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included 13 supermarkets in Toi San, Ilha Verde and Fai Chi Kei areas in N. Sra. de Fátima Parish. The latest ‘Supermarket Price Survey’ is now available on Consumer Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo), ‘Supermarket Price Information Platform’ iPhone and Android apps, and on the Council’s WeChat account page. The survey is also available free of charge at the offices of Consumer Council, IACM’s Iao Hon and S. Domingos Markets, bookstores and libraries. With reference to the local six parishes and the number of supermarkets in each parish, the Council has divided around 100 supermarkets into 8 areas for price collection. The Council collects prices from these supermarkets for the provision of a more comprehensive database for consumers to check price discrepancies and make price comparisons according to their desired locations. For inquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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