News

Consumer Council conducted its fourth ‘Supermarket price survey’ in March on 12 March for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included supermarkets near Horte e Costa, Avenida do Ouvidor Arriaga and Rua da Emenda areas in Santo António Parish. The latest ‘Supermarket Price Survey’ is now available on Consumer Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo), and the ‘Supermarket Price Information Platform’ iPhone and Android apps. 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. Consumers may also access the resources through WAP channels on their mobile phones. With reference to the local six parishes and the number of supermarkets in each parish, the Council has divided over 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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The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP133.9 billion (USD16.77 billion) at the end of February 2015. The reserves increased by 0.4% from the revised value of MOP133.3 billion (USD16.70 billion) for the previous month. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-February 2015 represented 12 times the currency in circulation or 101.7% of Pataca M2 at end-January 2015. The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca, a gauge of the domestic currency’s exchange rates against the currencies of Macao’s major trading partners, rose 0.71 points month-to-month and 7.05 points year-on-year to 103.67 in February 2015.
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For the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June, Consumer Council conducted its specific price surveys on tissue papers, oral care products and milk powder on 25 and 27 February respectively . Results of the mentioned surveys have been uploaded to the Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and are available in the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. For inquiry, please call the Council's hotline: 8988 9315.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, is scheduled to attend the opening of the Third Plenary Session of the Twelfth National People's Congress (NPC) on Thursday. Mr Chui will meet with the Governor of the People's Bank of China, Mr Zhou Xiaochuan, during his visit in the capital from 4-7 March. Officials who will take part in this visit include the Chief-of-Office of the Chief Executive's Office Ms O Lam, the Director of the Government Information Bureau Mr Chan Chi Ping, and the Director of the Protocol, Public Relations and External Affairs Office Mr Fung Sio Weng. While Mr Chui is away, the Secretary for Administration and Justice Ms Chan Hoi Fan will be Acting Chief Executive.
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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) held the "Parade for the Celebration of the Year of Ram" at Macau Northern District tonight (28 February) to boost the festive ambience in town for locals and visitors. MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes; Head of Department of Cultural Activities and Recreation of Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM), Choi Chi Hong; President of Macao Sport Development Board (MSDB), José Tavares; Head of Cultural Events Department of Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), Kent Ieong Chi Kin; MGTO Deputy Directors Cecilia Tse and Cheng Wai Tong officiated the kick-off ceremony together with other guests at Rua Norte do Patane at 8 p.m. tonight. A total of 14 floats joined the "Parade for the Celebration of the Year of Ram". They set off from Rua Norte do Patane and passed through Avenida do Conselheiro Borja, Estrada do Arco, Estrada da Areia Preta, Avenida de Venceslau de Morais, Rua Quatro do Bairro da Areia Preta, Avenida da Longevidade and Rua do Mercado de Iao Hon until their destination at Iao Hon Market Garden. Along the parade route, MGTO gave out small souvenirs gladly welcomed by the spectators. Fantastic stage performances started in Iao Hon Market Garden at 8 p.m, featuring local singers Rico Long, Priscilla Chao, Viviana Lo, Kevin Cheng, Vivian Chan, Sean Pang and Terence Chui. Famous Hong Kong singer Stephy Tang presented the finale performance for the parade. The evening show attracted large crowds of local and visiting spectators. After the parade, the 14 floats are showcased at Tap Seac Square until 8 March (the 18th day of the first month in lunar calendar). The floats will be brightened with illuminations from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. from 1 – 7 March. MGTO is actively promoting community tourism development while making great efforts to organize different events including the grand outdoor celebrations for Lunar New Year. MGTO held the float parade again at Macau Northern District following the first parade on the third day of Lunar New Year, hoping to encourage visitors to explore different neighborhoods for their local color.
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Consumer Council conducted its eighth 'Supermarket price survey' in February on 26 February for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included 13 supermarkets in Taipa and Coloane area. The latest 'Supermarket Price Survey' is now available on Consumer Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo), and the 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. 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. Consumers may also access the resources through WAP channels on their mobile phones. With reference to the local six parishes and the number of supermarkets in each parish, the Council has divided over 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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To celebrate the Year of the Ram, Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) hosted a spring luncheon in Hong Kong today (27 Feb) to thank the Hong Kong travel trades, incentive travel partners, media representatives and friends for their continuous support to the tourism development of Macau over the years. MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes led a delegation to greet more than 200 luncheon guests, among which includes MGTO Deputy Director Cecilia Tse and Macau Grand Prix Committee Coordinator João Manuel Costa Antunes. When delivering the welcome remarks, MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes expressed her appreciation for the support that Hong Kong tourism partners and media had made to promote Macau. In 2014, the number of visitor arrivals to Macau reached 31,526,000, representing an increase of 7.5% over 2013. Being the second largest tourist source market, over 6.4 million Hong Kong residents traveled to Macau last year. Entering the Year of the Ram, MGTO will continue to engage the promotional theme "Touching Moments, Experience Macau" and make continuous effort to diversify Macau's tourism products and markets with the goal of building Macau as the "World Centre of Tourism and Leisure". MGTO will keep developing tourism elements, continue to strengthen community tourism project to enrich travelers' experience with the local charm. In line with MGTO's promotional strategies, Hong Kong Office will strengthen the communication platform between industry partners and media by organizing seminars, product update presentations, thematic familiarization tours and joint promotions. Innovative promotional activities especially adoption of digital media will be launched to reach different market segments including families, youngsters, ladies, silver hair as well as niche markets such as students, wedding couples and business incentives.
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The Institute for Tourism Studies "Career Day 2015" was held on 27 February at IFT Taipa Campus. The event aimed to provide more information on the employment trends and prospects in the tourism and hospitality industry for graduating students, thus increasing their chances of success in job hunting. 20 organisations with about 2,000 job vacancies from the tourism and services industry joined the event. These included Crowne Plaza Macau, EGL Tours (Macau) Company Limited, Four Seasons Hotel Macao, Cotai Strip®, Galaxy Entertainment Group, Grand Hyatt Macau, Holiday Inn Macau, JW Marriott Macau, L'Arc Macau, Louis Vuitton Macau Company Limited, LVMH Asia Pacific Ltd., Macau International Airport, Melco Crown Entertainment, MGM Macau, Nuance-Watson (Macau) Limited, Sands China Limited, Sheraton Macao Hotel, Shun Tak Holdings (Macau) Ltd., TDM - Teledifusão de Macau, S.A., Wing On Holidays (Macau) Ltd and Wynn Resorts (Macau) Limited. Representatives from the participating organisations introduced career prospects and positions available in their companies as well as arranged on site interviews for graduating students and participants. The graduates-to-be and participants were enthusiastic about the event. Questions regarding employment trends and employers' expectation were raised and discussed in the fair. In addition, the first batch of Culinary Arts Management graduates is set to graduate in June this year. They are ready to enter into the job market and become popular among employers. The employment rate of IFT graduates is always satisfactory. A graduates' employment survey was conducted with respondents of 2013/14 graduates. According to the survey results, 87.8% of the degree programme graduates were employed, 8% graduates pursued further studies; 76.2% of the employed graduates worked in the tourism and hospitality sector, the median salary of MOP13,900. The Career Day aimed to be the direct communication platform between students and employers, allowing students to have a better idea about the current job market and maximised their chance of successful job application.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total value of retail sales for the whole year of 2014 reached MOP 67.66 billion, up by 1% year-on-year. Value of retail sales of Watches, Clocks & Jewellery (MOP 18.14 billion) and Goods in Department Stores (MOP 9.92 billion) accounted for 27% and 15% of the total respectively. Similarly, volume of retail sales for 2014 increased by 1% year-on-year, with notable increase in sales of Household Appliances (+34%), Motorcycles, Parts & Accessories (+30%) and Chinese Food Products (+24%). Value of retail sales for the fourth quarter of 2014 totalled MOP 17.04 billion, up by 8% compared with the revised figure of MOP 15.82 billion in the third quarter. Retail sales of Watches, Clocks & Jewellery (MOP 4.40 billion) accounted for 26% of the total, which was followed by retail sales of Goods in Department Stores (12%), Adults' Clothing (11%), Leather Goods (11%), Motor Vehicles (6%) and Goods in Supermarkets (6%). Value of retail sales for the fourth quarter decreased by 8% year-on-year, with marked decrease being observed in sales of Goods in Department Stores (-23%) and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery (-21%). On the other hand, sales of Chinese Food Products and Household Appliances increased by 24% and 21% respectively year-on-year. After removing the effect of price changes, volume of retail sales for the fourth quarter of 2014 increased by 4% quarter-to-quarter, of which sales of Furniture & Lighting and Cosmetics & Sanitary Articles soared by 62% and 31% respectively; however, sales of Goods in Department Stores tumbled by 31%. Meanwhile, volume of retail sales for the fourth quarter decreased by 11% year-on-year, with notable decrease in sales of Goods in Department Stores (-37%), Adults' Clothing (-22%), Dried Seafood (-22%) and Watches, Clocks & Jewellery (-19%); on the contrary, sales of Furniture & Lighting, Household Appliances and Chinese Food Products increased by 51%, 24% and 22% respectively. In respect of the comments of the retailers, about 53% stated that sales volume in the fourth quarter of 2014 increased or held stable over the previous quarter, up by 1 percentage point compared with the corresponding figure in the third quarter of 2014, while 47% reported decrease in sales volume. In terms of the retail prices, about 67% reported stable prices, 10% stated an increase and 23% noted a decrease. Moreover, about 68% of the retailers expressed that the stock level remained stable compared with the fourth quarter of 2013, while 19% indicated that the stock level decreased. As regards business outlook for the first quarter of 2015, about 24% of the retailers anticipate that sales volume will increase from the fourth quarter, 44% expect sales volume to remain stable, while 32% foresee a decrease. Concurrently, about 64% predict stable retail prices, 20% expect an increase, while 16% predict a decrease in retail prices.
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Mainland China's seven-day long Chinese New Year golden week adjourned and Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) related measures and work were also successfully concluded. According to preliminary statistics, during Chinese New Year golden week visitor arrivals to Macau numbered 1,028,559 (including non-resident workers and students), a slight decrease of 2.4 per cent over the corresponding period last year, among which 760,623 were Mainland visitors, down by two per cent. Given that last year's golden week extended from the first to the seventh day of the Chinese New Year, according to the lunar calendar, and this year the golden week started at the last day of the year and ended at the sixth day of the New Year (18 to 24 of February), and as Chinese traditionally travel less on the last day of the year that might have contributed to a dip in the figures. Whereas when looking into statistics referring to the period between the first and the seventh day of the Chinese New Year (19 to 25 of February), the number of arrivals recorded (including non-resident workers and students) marked 1,088,579, up by 3.3 per cent, compare to identical period last year, among which 819,266 were visitors from Mainland China, a 5,6 per cent increase. According to data provided by the hotel industry, during the golden week the average occupancy rate of three to five star hotels reached 87.5 per cent, a year-on-year decrease of 6.9 percentage points. The current total of rooms supplied by all hotels and guest houses in Macau stands at 29,382 rooms. Guest houses average occupancy rate for the same period reached 74 per cent, down by 8.6 percentage points, two star hotels 73.9 per cent, down by 13.4 percentage points, three-star hotels 85.2 per cent, down by 8.1 percentage points, four-star hotels 84.1 percent, down by 8.7 per cent, and five-star hotels 93.3 per cent, down by 3.9 percentage points. The average room rate during golden week rate of three to five star hotels in Macau dropped by 15.4 per cent, to 2,019.3 patacas. The average room rate of guest houses was 726.1 patacas, a year-on-year decrease of 4.9 per cent, while the average room rate of two-star hotels was 1,080.3 patacas, down by 11.1 per cent, three-star hotels 1,881.7 patacas, down by 21.1 per cent, four-star hotels 1,725.7 patacas, down by 20.7 per cent and five-star hotels 2,450.5, down 5.8 per cent. Before and during Spring Festival, MGTO was actively preparing for the peak period in various ways by activating the tourism notification system, increasing inspection duties, sending reminders to the trade regarding various concerns, printing and distributing local food guide and carrying out a range of Lunar New Year celebrations, among other initiatives, as the Office strives not only to cater for citizens and visitors' needs but also to optimize local tourism environment and service quality through various measures. MGTO has been regularly releasing the room rates of Macau hotels and guest houses in different room categories on its website so that visitors can obtain the latest information. Before Spring Festival arrived, the Office also sent out Wechat and mobile text messages to Mainland residents who planned to visit Macau during the Golden Week, advising them to make room reservation in advance and to check hotel room rates on MGTO's website if needed; to ensure visitors have more travel tips in hand, the Office also encouraged visitors to download travel information before their trip to Macau or to obtain printed materials at MGTO's Tourist Information counters for free upon arrival. MGTO and Tourism Administration of Guangdong Province putted once again the "Tourism Notification System for Spring Festival Golden Week" into operation, this year between 16 and 25 February. The Office also collaborated with relevant departments and tourism reception entities to facilitate hospitality work for visitors during Spring Festival Golden Week. MGTO conducted 73 inspections in total at various border ports and tourist spots. Between 18 and 24 February, MGTO sealed one premises allegedly operated as illegal accommodation. MGTO's Tourist Information counters and tourism hotline service operated as usual during the holidays. MGTO's tourism hotline 2833 3000 maintained its 24-hour operator service to answer visitors' enquiries. During Chinese New Year, MGTO received a total of six complaints, assistance requests or suggestions from visitors regarding restaurants service and charges, food establishments hygiene, tourist guide and carrying capacity, which MGTO has followed up or transferred the cases to relevant entities for settlement. This press release is available at: http://industry.macautourism.gov.mo/en/pressroom/
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