News

The 21st Session of the UNWTO General Assembly is held at Medellín, the second largest city in Colombia from 12-17 September. Deputy Director of Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), Cheng Wai Tong, attended the Assembly and the activities concerned. This Session of the General Assembly meets under the theme “Tourism: Fostering Inclusive Development and Social Transformation” for six days of meetings and activities including an opening ceremony, High-level Forum, Plenary sessions, Regional Committee Meetings for different regions, Tourism & Sustainability Committee Meeting, Tourism & Competitiveness Committee Meeting and so forth. Among the highlights of the program, MGTO attended the Opening, Regional Committee Meeting for East Asia and Pacific, UNWTO Associate Members Meeting as well as Plenary sessions and so forth. During the Associate Members Meeting, it has been confirmed that Macau will continue to participate at the “UNWTO Committee on Statistics and Tourism Satellite Account” (STSC) until 2017. The High-level Forum was organized by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) under the theme “Tourism and Air Transport for Development”. Moderated by the Secretary-General of UNWTO, Taleb Rifai, and the Secretary-General of ICAO, Fang Liu, the Forum focused on how closer cooperation between aviation and tourism can maximize the impact of both sectors on employment, inclusive growth and sustainable development. Held every two years, the UNWTO General Assembly is the most important international meeting attended by senior tourism officials and high-level representatives of the private sector from around the world. The Secretary-General of UNWTO, Taleb Rifai expressed that this is one of the most attended General Assembly ever, with close to 1000 participants including over 72 ministers and state secretaries and delegations from 115 countries/regions. This is the second time for Colombia to host the event. Chosen as the destination for the Assembly, Medellín is known as one of the most innovative cities and well acclaimed for its integrated public transportation system, architecture, culture and art. An associate member of UNWTO since 1981, Macau has been actively participating in the Organization’s meetings. This press release is available at: http://industry.macautourism.gov.mo/en/pressroom/index.php?page_id=172
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The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP145.0 billion (USD18.17 billion) at the end of August 2015. The reserves increased by 0.3% from the revised value of MOP144.6 billion (USD18.11 billion) for the previous month. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-August 2015 represented 13 times the currency in circulation or 105.7% of Pataca M2 at end-July 2015. The trade-weighted effective exchange rate index for the pataca rose 0.96 points month-to-month and 8.01 points year-on-year to 105.71 in August 2015, implying that overall speaking, the pataca appreciated against the currencies of Macao’s major trading partners.
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The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC, from the Portuguese acronym) organizes the “Parade through Macao, Latin City” every year, providing local associations with a performance platform and an opportunity for them to freely express their creativity while encouraging participants to showcase their creative talent, increasing competitiveness. This year the “Parade through Macao, Latin City” will be held on 6 December (Sunday). IC calls for applications from the local groups registered in the Identification Services Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region between 8 October and 10 October. To promote the diversified development of Macao’s cultural industries, as well as to create opportunities for local artists to observe and conduct exchange activities with international performing groups, the “Parade through Macao, Latin City” has been held annually since 2011 through the streets in the Historic Centre of Macao. Local and overseas associations are invited to participate in this event, offering residents and tourists a cheerful festive atmosphere to celebrate the anniversary of Macao’s Handover to China in a creative way whilst aiming at establishing the image of Macao as a cultural city. Over the past four years, the Parade has been seen by millions of people, from participating crowds and spectators, as well as viewers of the local and regional live broadcast on TV, to viewers of special pre-recorded programmes broadcast in the region or overseas. The Parade has become increasingly popular and one of the main trademark festivals of the city. The performance proposals and all related information must be submitted to IC’s Cultural Activities Department, located at Edif. do Instituto Cultural in Tap Seac Square from 8 October to 10 October 2015 (10am to 7pm) in an envelope indicating clearly “Parade through Macao, Latin City 2015 – Call for Applications by Local Groups”. The Parade regulations can be consulted and downloaded from the Cultural Affairs Bureau website, at www.icm.gov.mo. For more details or enquiries, please call 8399 6608 or 8399 6650 during office hours.
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The Commission Against Corruption announces to launch a video contest targeting local secondary school students. Entitled “Promoting Honesty”, the contest welcomes short video clips created individually or by students in small groups. Through organising this contest, the CCAC aims to encourage students to reflect on the importance of honesty and integrity in their everyday life and to promote these values conveyed in the creative works. The video contest features two categories of participants, namely Junior Secondary Group and Senior Secondary Group. Participants are required to, via the use of video cameras, cameras or mobile phones, shoot a one to three minute video with such optional themes as “fair competition”, “values about money”, “honesty and loyalty”, “incorruptibility” or “trustworthiness”. The application and submission deadline falls on 30th October this year. The judging panel consists of the organiser and professionals from the local film and television industry. The judging criteria will be based on theme expression, creativity, educative value and shooting technique. Not more than 15 entries will be selected from each of the two groups, and those shortlisted will go on to compete for the Champion, 1st runner-up, 2nd runner-up, Merit Awards and a Most Popular Video award in their respective group. For details please refer to the contest rules and the application form. Both the contest rules and the application form are available at the CCAC’s Headquarters and its Branch Offices in Areia Preta and Taipa. They are also downloadable from the CCAC’s website. Enquiry hotline: 2832 6300.
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The Cultural Affairs Bureau and Albergue SCM jointly organize two exhibitions entitled ‘The Journey of a Master: Júlio Pomar and Friends’, which will showcase works by renowned Portuguese master Júlio Pomar. One of the exhibition, organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, and co-organized by Albergue SCM and Gallery 57, with the support of the Consulate General of Portugal in Macau and Hong Kong, will be held at Tap Seac Gallery and will be inaugurated on 15 September (Tuesday) at 6:30pm. The other exhibition, organized by Albergue SCM and co-organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau and Galeria 57, with the sponsorship of the Macao Foundation, will be inaugurated on 18 September (Friday) at 6:30pm. Born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1926, Júlio Pomar is one of the greatest Portuguese artists of the twentieth century. His work features a wide variety of styles, which include design, printmaking, sculpture, illustrations, ceramics, tapestries, theatre design, as well as essays and poetry about painting, all of which strongly demonstrate Pomar’s talents and his tireless effort in pursuing and exploring the arts. The exhibition at Tap Seac Gallery, organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, showcases the different phases of Pomar’s artistic career. Thirty-one works by Pomar and his contemporaries will be displayed, including famous oil paintings and prints, allowing the audience to better understand Pomar’s work and life, as well as to appreciate his artistic world, and better understand the feelings and unique vision behind each piece of art. The exhibition will be open to the public from 15th September to 29th October, and admission is free. For more information, please contact IC through tel. no. 8399 6699 during office hours. The second exhibition, organized by Albergue SCM, will be inaugurated at the patio of the Albergue SCM on 18 September (Friday), at 6:30pm. This Exhibition include more than 40 Art Works, among the following are 34 of Pomar, such as the erotic phase, specially “Bal chez le Duc” which is exhibited here, for the first time, to the public; the animals phase and a comprehensive sample of its extensive graphic work, specially the 8 lithographs of all illustrations the artist made for the Portuguese Edition of the work of Lewis Carroll, “The Hunting of the Snark”. Besides the stature and meaning of Júlio Pomar work in international contemporary art, the Exhibition also show cases works of artists of the same generation, such as, Graça Morais, André Shan Lima Júlio Resende and Rogério Ribeiro, The exhibition “The Journey of a Master: Júlio Pomar & Friends” will be held at A2 Gallery, in Albergue SCM from 18 September 2015 to 15 January 2016, with free admission. For enquiries, please call 2852 2550 during office hours. The Consulate General of Portugal in Macau and Hong Kong will hold Press Conference on the artists’ life and work on 17 September (Thursday) at 6:00pm at the Consulate General of Portugal in Macau and Hong Kong auditorium (Rua Pedro Nolasco da Silva 45, Macao). The Conference will be held in Portuguese. For enquiries, please call the Consulate General of Portugal through tel. no. 2835 6632 during office hours.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that receipts of the hotel sector amounted to MOP 27.87 billion in 2014, up by 10.2% year-on-year. Analysed by types of receipts, Room Sales increased by 14.3% year-on-year to MOP 13.65 billion, accounting for 49.0% of the total; receipts from Food & Beverages increased by 1.1% to MOP 5.65 billion. Receipts from Rental of Space rose by 18.6% to MOP 5.58 billion, with those for MICE events (MOP 339 million) soaring by 111.1%. A total of 99 hotels and guesthouses were operating in 2014, a decrease of 1 year-on-year, comprising 66 hotels and 33 guesthouses. Total number of persons engaged dropped by 1.1% year-on-year to 39,475, of which 26,089 (66.1%) were working in 11 large-scale hotels having 800 or more persons engaged, down by 8.1%. Analysed by classification of establishments, receipts of five-star hotels (MOP 23.06 billion) were generated from various sources, including Room Sales at MOP 10.82 billion (46.9% of total), Rental of Space at MOP 5.25 billion (22.8%) and Food & Beverages at MOP 4.75 billion (20.6%), up by 14.7%, 18.9% and 0.1% respectively year-on-year. Receipts of four-star hotels increased by 12.7% to MOP 2.73 billion, with Room Sales accounting for a significant share of 66.5%. Moreover, receipts of three-star and two-star hotels rose by 4.8% to MOP 2.03 billion, of which Room Sales captured 47.7% and Other Receipts (such as management fees, sales of products, etc.) shared 30.8%. It is worth noting that online business of the hotel sector saw marked growth, of which receipts from online room reservation and ticketing, etc. surged by 29.4% to MOP 784 million, with the corresponding growth for three-star and two-star hotels reaching 35.2%. Expenditure of the hotel sector increased by 7.9% year-on-year to MOP 23.07 billion; Operating Expenses (MOP 10.49 billion) and Compensation of Employees (MOP 9.59 billion) rose by 3.1% and 17.2% respectively year-on-year, while Purchase of Goods & Commission Paid (MOP 2.99 billion) edged down by 0.9%. Analysed by classification of establishments, Operating Expenses shared the highest proportion of Expenditure of both five-star and four-star hotels, at 45.4% and 50.1% respectively, while Compensation of Employees (48.3% of total) was the largest expense item of three-star and two-star hotels. Meanwhile, Non-operating Expenses such as depreciation of fixed assets and interest paid totalled MOP 7.25 billion, down by 7.7% year-on-year. Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to the economy rose by 18.1% year-on-year to MOP 14.55 billion. Gross Surplus of the sector (receipts plus changes in inventories less expenditure) amounted to MOP 4.96 billion, up by 20.0%. Owing to an increase in major renovations of establishments in 2014, Gross Fixed Capital Formation grew by 22.0% year-on-year to MOP 2.76 billion.
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Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Tam Chon Weng, said the Government would pay close attention to public opinion in the revitalisation plan for the former Estoril Hotel. Mr Tam, who told reporters on 12 September, said the aim for revitalise the building was obvious: to create more recreational and leisure facilities for not only the youngsters but also all residents. He said he was pleased to know the people were highly concerned with the cultural heritage, and he had directed the Cultural Affairs Bureau to initiate the process to evaluate if the building was classified as heritage. From the public opinion received so far, the majority favoured of turning the former hotel into a youth hub and as a re-location for the Macao Conservatory. He said if public opinion favoured to keep the building and the adjacent swimming pool, the Government would act according to the will of the majority. The public consultation for the revitalisation plan for former Estoril Hotel and Estoril swimming pool will end on Sunday (20 September). The former Estoril Hotel is at the centre of the city’s cultural district: surrounded by several cultural heritages, schools, a library, museums and a sports complex. The proposal is aimed at creating an integration of cultural, arts, education, sports and other recreational facilities in addition to creating a space that can serve all residents.
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By taking advantage of the widespread usage of information technology in the community, the Civil Aviation Authority of Macao SAR (AACM) will launch the online MACCARES (Macao Confidential Aviation Reporting System) reporting form tomorrow with the objective of providing the industry and the residents another convenient channel for submitting information of safety concerns to the Authority. Information technology is advancing at a rapid pace. E-government and e-commerce are being actively advocated in countries everywhere to the extent that most of the applications and transactions can now be handled electronically in addition to the traditional way. As people become more and more dedicated to protecting the environment, they are using the traditional postal method less often and becoming more enthusiastic in submitting applications online. After assessing the various mechanisms of safety data collection, AACM considered that the MACCARES reporting form has the condition to go online as the mechanism targets both the industry and the residents. The online reporting form is therefore developed so as to construct a convenient way to encourage more and more people to submit safety information. MACCARES is a voluntary, confidential, and non-punitive incident reporting system established by AACM in 2013. The sole purpose is to enhance aviation safety and to prevent the occurrence of aircraft accident and incident through collecting information on actual or potential safety deficiencies that may not be captured by the mandatory occurrence reporting system so that AACM can analyse the data and hence come up with recommendations for improvements to the aviation system. MACCARES allows any person who becomes aware of safety concerns on aviation safety or non-compliance with Macao’s laws and regulations to report such concerns to AACM. Industry operators and Macao’s residents can check the details and the online reporting form through the special session of MACCARES in AACM’s website: http://www.aacm.gov.mo/maccares/english/maccares_make.php
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The Government is financially stable and sees no need to launch more measures to control expenditure. This assurance was given by the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, who told reporters after the plenary session of the Standing Council on Social Concerted Action on 11 September. Mr Leong said the Government experienced no financial difficulty, as there were more than 10 billion patacas of accumulated reserves according to the amended budget for the fiscal year 2015, which was submitted to the Legislative Assembly in March. The budget requires the administration to launch stricter financial measures when gaming revenue fell to a monthly average of 20 billion pactacs or less. He said Macao might experience short-term uncertainty due to external financial environment, and stressed that the Government would closely monitor the situation from September to December and would consider introducing measures to tighten the use of public funds only when there was no surplus generated. Since 1 September, the Government launched retrenchment measures to control public expenditure, including a plan involving 1.4 billion patacas cost-cutting in government departments. But the measures will not affect government spending on social welfare, the Wealth Partaking scheme, and the Investment and Development Expenditure Scheme.
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“Macao Fuel Price Information Platform” mobile app developed by Macao Consumer Council provides the real time prices and the price discrepancies of various kinds of fuels. The app enhances the transparency of fuel prices and the Council recommends consumers to make good use of the information in the app to save money on fuel costs. The Council suggests consumers to make good use of the time lags for the price adjustments of various petrol brands The Council released its “Macao Fuel Price Information Platform” mobile app in April 2015 and requested the fuel suppliers and retailers to provide the Council with timely information for any price adjustment. Consumers can download the app to get the relevant news timely, or even earlier, by receiving the push notifications. As fuel suppliers and retailers have changed their strategies and do not adjust prices simultaneously, the information on price changes of various fuels brands found in the app becomes significant. For the first eight months of this year, the Council has recorded 18 times where various brands of diesel have not adjusted their prices on the same day; and 17 times were recorded for unleaded petrol accordingly. The number of days where retail prices of various diesel brands differed were within 1 to 7 days, while for unleaded petrol, the number of days differed were within 1 to 8 days. The Council states that consumers should utilize the information of the app, and make good use of the time lags for the price adjustments of various petrol brands to purchase petrol at the lowest price. Price differences of household LPG widen The app also provides prices and relevant information on household LPG and help consumers save money on fuel costs. The app provides the latest retail prices of household LPG for 40 retailers and the data found in the app shows that price differences of various household LPG widen consistently. The price differed from $2.79/kg in the beginning of the year to $3.90/kg in August, with a price discrepancy of around 30% in the first three quarters. The Council states if a family makes its choice with reference to the price discrepancy found, it can save around $360 each year, based on a monthly consumption of 2 tanks of 13.5kg household LPG. The Council stresses that the quality of LPG sold in Macao is under strict supervision of the competent departments, and therefore the quality is assured even if there is a price gap. QR code labels of the app are widely posted for consumers to scan The Council encourages consumers to make good use of the app and the push notifications sent to get the real time prices of various kinds of fuels. Consumers can simply make comparisons using the functions of the app and find the best price. Consumers are welcome to download the “Macao Fuel Prices Information Platform'’ app for free on the Council's website, or by scanning the QR code labels of the app posted in the service centres of various government departments. As petrol and LPG are important commodities, the Council urges the fuel suppliers to take their corporate social responsibility and cooperate with the Council and other relevant government departments to ensure consumers’ right to information and choice in the fuel market. For inquiry, please call 89889315.
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