News

The Historical Archives of Macao will hold another of its popular conservation workshops on Saturday 24th of July from 14.00 to 17.00. This time the focus will be on binding a buttonhole notebook. No previous experience is required but participants must be at least ten years old. Starting 19th of July, please visit the Historical Archives of Macao (open Mon-Fri, 09:30-18.30, Sat, 13.00-18.00) on Tap Seac Square to register and pay the workshop fee of MOP$20 (inclusive of materials and equipment for the workshop). Places are limited and will be distributed according to order of registration. For more information about individual workshops this year, please visit http://www.archives.gov.mo. For further details, please contact Ms. Esther Chu of the Macao Historical Archives of the Cultural Affairs Bureau at 85986537.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao announced today that the preliminary estimate of Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP163.7 billion (USD20.42 billion) at the end of June 2010. The reserves rose by 3.4% from MOP158.3 billion (USD19.72 billion) for the previous month. When compared with a year earlier, the reserves increased by MOP21.8 billion or 15.3%. Macao SAR’s foreign exchange reserves at end-June 2010 represented 32 times the currency in circulation or 273.4% of Pataca M2 at end-May 2010. 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 by 0.50 points month-to-month and 1.74 points year-on-year to 92.29 in June 2010. For enquiry, please contact:
Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel: 83952532; Fax: 28353042)
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Tourist Price Index (TPI) for the second quarter of 2010 rose by 12.29% year-on-year to 164.04. The price indices of Miscellaneous Goods; Accommodation; Clothing & Footwear; Food, Alcoholic Drinks & Tobacco; Transport & Communications; and Restaurant Services increased notably by 23.48%, 17.38%, 8.69%, 6.22%, 6.09% and 4.79% respectively, attributable to dearer prices of gold jewellery, men’s clothing, alcoholic drinks and tobacco, rising hotel room rates and airfares, as well as higher charges for restaurant services. On the contrary, price index of Entertainment & Cultural Activities registered a slight decrease of 0.05% year-on-year. The second quarter TPI went up by 1.38% quarter-to-quarter, of which the price indices of Miscellaneous Goods; Clothing & Footwear; and Food, Alcoholic Drinks & Tobacco increased by 6.01%, 2.86% and 2.17% respectively, on account of rising prices of gold jewellery, men’s clothing, alcoholic drinks and tobacco. On the other hand, price index of Accommodation decreased by 10.60% as a result of lower hotel room rates compared with the first quarter. The average TPI for the last 4 quarters ended the second quarter of 2010 increased by 8.45% over the previous period, with marked increase observed in the indices of Miscellaneous Goods (+19.45%); Accommodation (+10.72%); and Food, Alcoholic Drinks & Tobacco (+5.16%). For the first half year of 2010, TPI went up by 10.84% year-on-year, of which the price indices of Miscellaneous Goods and Accommodation rose significantly by 21.40% and 14.29%, respectively. TPI reflects the price changes of goods and services purchased by visitors, which is compiled according to the consumption pattern of visitors. TPI covers 8 sections of goods and services, namely Food, Alcoholic Drinks & Tobacco; Clothing & Footwear; Accommodation; Restaurant Services; Transport & Communications; Medicine & Personal Goods; Entertainment & Cultural Activities; and Miscellaneous Goods. The base period of TPI is from July 1999 to June 2000.
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The email system of the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau was out of order on July 13; currently the system has resumed its normal operation. The individuals and institutions that had contacted DSEJ through email during this time can inquire the staff of DSEJ by telephone or consider resending the email. We would like to apologise for any possible inconvenience in communication and contact caused by this incident.
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The 16th Asia Pacific Tourism Association (APTA) will be held at IFT from 13-16 July, 2010. The Asia Pacific Tourism Association (APTA) is an internationally acclaimed association in the field of tourism comprised of 17 Asia Pacific countries and regions. The purpose of APTA is to further facilitate quality tourism research especially in the Asia-Pacific area, to share research achievements and to exchange ideas between academics and their counterparts in the business world. A conference is held annually and a journal is published quarter-annually and its quality research papers are distributed all over the world. IFT, being a Macao representative of APTA, is proud to bring the annual meeting to Macao as one of our 15th Anniversary celebration series this year. Macao, being one of the fastest developing and most exciting tourism destinations in Asia, transforms herself into a modem, vibrant and cosmopolitan city that boasts the latest world-class attractions in gaming and entertainment. The conference themed “Competition and Collaboration between Regional Tourism Destinations” attracted hospitality scholars, researchers, practitioners and trade members of the region to submit and present their papers in Macao. The opening ceremony of the conference was hosted by Dr. Sang Taek Lim, Chairman of APTA and Dr. Fanny Vong, President of IFT. Two hundred and twenty delegates from Australia, Canada, Mainland China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Chinese Taiwan, Thailand, and United States were invited to attend this conference. There are also representatives from Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR. Aiming to create a platform and opportunity to exchange the latest developments, trends, and research in the area of competition and collaboration between regional tourism destination, ideas are shared, discussed, and debated in the conference. Papers of both applied and conceptual orientation are presented on the following topics, along with other relevant concerns: - Destination Management
- Restaurant Management
- Hotel Marketing/Management
- Travelers’ Behaviour
- IT and Tourism
- Forecasting
- Hospitality Management
- Human Resources Management
- Community-Based Tourism
- Sustainable Tourism
- Casino Management
- Tourism Policy/Planning
- Brand Equity/Branding
- Financing/Accounting
- Event Management
- Tourism Industry
- Hospitality Education
- Tourism Trends Speakers include: - Prof. Kaye Chon
Chair Professor of Hotel and Tourism Management and Director of School, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University - Dr. Dai Bin
Vice Director, China Tourism Academy - Dra. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes
(Deputy Director) representing the Director, Macau Government Tourist Office - Mr. Kwon Ping Ho
Executive Chairman, Banyan Tree Holdings - Dr. Sang Taek Lim
Chairman, Asia Pacific Tourism Association - Dr. Fanny Vong
President, Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that visitor arrivals in package tours surged by 132.9% year-on-year to 569,803 in May 2010, as visitors in package tours for May last year was adversely affected by the human swine influenza pandemic. Visitors from Mainland China (422,204); Japan (22,645); Taiwan, China (21,293); and Hong Kong (20,368) rose substantially by 168.0%, 85.9%, 38.1% and 14.5% respectively, and those from the Republic of Korea (14,714) and India (11,375) also registered notable increase. In the first five months of 2010, visitor arrivals in package tours increased by 23.2% year-on-year to 2,575,916. In May 2010, Macao residents travelling outbound in package tours increased by 43.6% year-on-year to 19,101, with Mainland China (78.0% of total); Japan (6.1%); and Taiwan, China (4.2%) being the most popular tour itineraries. In the first five months of 2010, residents travelling in package tours totalled 88,575, up by 11.4% year-on-year. Meanwhile, outbound residents travelling under own arrangements using services of travel agencies rose slightly by 0.7% year-on-year to 36,948 and the main destinations were Mainland China (34.9% of total); Hong Kong (32.9%); and Taiwan, China (18.4%). In the first five months of 2010, outbound residents travelling under such arrangements went up by 6.8% year-on-year to 174,312. At the end of May 2010, total number of available guest rooms of the hotel sector increased by 2,001 (+11.4%) year-on-year to 19,573 rooms. A total of 650,849 guests checked into hotels and guest-houses in May 2010, up notably by 46.3% year-on-year, with the majority coming from Mainland China (51.9% of total) and Hong Kong (19.4%). The average occupancy rate of hotels and guest-houses soared substantially by 18.6 percentage points year-on-year to 77.9%; average occupancy rate of hotels reached 78.6%, with 3-star hotels leading at 81.2%. The average length of stay of guests decreased by 0.02 night to 1.5 nights. The cumulative number of guests reached 3,197,610 in the first five months of 2010, up by 20.3% over the same period of 2009. In the first five months of 2010, visitor-guests of hotels and guest-houses accounted for 60.8% of the total number of tourists, down from 61.7% in the same period of 2009.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, today continued his visit in Sichuan, to learn more about the earthquake relief projects supported by Macao. In Guangyuan, a city struck by earthquakes in 2008, Mr Chui and his delegation inspected several reconstruction projects and listened to briefings on the progress of their construction. These projects were namely a mental health centre, a bridge, a sport centre and a house for the elderly. They left Guangyuan for Lizhou in the afternoon and visited a village with reconstructed accommodation financed by Macao. Mr Chui visited two families and told them that he was glad to learn that the lives of Sichuan people had returned to normal. He said the people of Macao were supportive of the relief projects and extended the well wishes of Macao people on their behalf. At a reconstructed middle school, Mr Chui chatted with students and encouraged them to work hard. He had visited the site of the school two years ago, and he said that he was happy to see the newly constructed structure. Mr Chui and his delegation will visit Beichuan County tomorrow and attend a working meeting with senior officials of the province in Chengdu to discuss the progress of the earthquake relief projects.
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IFT is offering a “Western Culinary Arts Practicum Programme”, in cooperation with the local industry, to train professionals in the area of food production. An agreement signing ceremony and press conference was held on 12 July at IFT with 11 participating partner hotels to mark this meaningful collaboration. The programme is set up to answer the need for young chefs from the local industry, hence its special emphasis on practical training. It is a contribution to the local hospitality industry by creating qualified personnel and an invitation to those who are interested in acquiring the art, skill and refinement for this commendable profession. The concept of this programme is for IFT to provide theoretical knowledge while working with well-established local hotels for practicum opportunity, where students apply the theories in hands-on practical training environment. Our industry partners include: Altira Macau, City of Dreams, Four Seasons Hotel, Grand Lapa Macau, Grand Hyatt Macau, Grand Lisboa Hotel, Hotel Lisboa, MGM GRAND Macau, Sands Macao Hotel, The Westin Resort Macau and Wynn Macau. This free programme is carried out 6 days a week (1 day at IFT and 5 days at hotels), and lasts for 18 months, during which participating hotels will be paying a monthly allowance of not less than MOP4,000 to the students. Programme contents include general courses (such as language, computer studies, nutrition, food hygiene, purchasing and cost control, hospitality and food industry, restaurant service and customer care) which take place at IFT, while gastronomy knowledge as well as practicum are mainly at hotels. Upon completion of the programme, students will receive a certificate issued by IFT and a skills certificate issued under Macao Occupational skills Recognition System (MORS). It is hoped that by creating qualified manpower and bringing in the right talents to the hospitality industry, that IFT’s new training programme is able to meet local demand for culinary professionals.
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The distribution overview of the Wealth Partaking Scheme 2010 is as following,: 1. Beneficiaries
1. Holders of valid or renewable Macau SAR Resident Identity Card Holders on 31 December 2009 are entitled to receive the cash premium. Every Macau SAR Permanent and Non-Permanent Resident Identity Cards will be granted 6,000.00 patacas and 3,600.00 patacas respectively.
2. Pursuant to Article 3 (2) of Law No.8/2002 regarding the circumstances of non-compulsory acquisition of resident identity card, persons below the age of 5 on 31 December 2009, will be granted the cash premium upon the obtainment of the abovementioned identification document.
3. Holders of valid or renewable Macao SAR Resident Identity Card who are currently residing abroad will be granted the cash premium, provided that they can prove that they are unable to renew their Macao SAR Resident Identity Card due to the reason of bedridden, completely or partly paralyzed. For those who have submitted the documentary proof and were granted the cash premium in the previous year, the Social Welfare Bureau is authorized to exempt them from documents resubmission if it is concluded that no new evidence is needed for the approval of current Scheme after analyzing the exiting documents. 2. Modes of distribution
1. Bank transfer
The following individuals will have the cash premium disbursed by means of bank transfer:
- Persons receiving financial assistance or subsidy for senior citizens from the Social Welfare Bureau;
- Teaching staff receiving direct subsidy as well as students in tertiary education receiving student aid from the Student Benefits Fund of the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau;
- Retired civil servants receiving retirement pension and other persons receiving aforesaid pension for the family of the deceased;
- Civil servants. 2. Crossed cheque mailing
The rest qualified for being awarded the cash premium will receive the crossed cheque via mail by the Identification Services Bureau. details are as follows:
- Beneficiaries aged 18 or above will each receive a cheque made payable to the beneficiary;
- Minor beneficiaries (under the age of 18) will each receive a cheque made payable to the beneficiary, his/her father, and his/her mother, which may be deposited either into the beneficiary’s account, his/her father’s account, or his/her mother’s account. The crossed cheque will be sent via surface mail so as to enable the beneficiaries to get the cheque in the simplest way. On the other hand, as it is a crossed cheque, it can only be deposited into the payee’s account, in this way, even if one gets the cheque of others, in no way the cheque can be cashed. 3. Special circumstances
The Social Welfare Bureau shall be responsible for the distribution of cash premium to the following persons: persons stated in above 1 (3), minors whose guardianship has not been established, incompetent persons, and persons deprived of their liberty by rehabilitative measures or subjected to criminal punishment. 3. 2010 Wealth Partaking Scheme Schedule for Distribution
(Please find the attached file.) 4. Address change for mailing purpose
The address of holders of Macau Resident Identity Card in the database of the Identification Services Bureau is the one declared by the resident during his/her replacement for the Macau SAR Resident Identity Card. To ensure that the residents can receive in time their cheque, from 29 March 2010, those who have moved their residence can change their address information in the following ways:
- Prior to changing the address, the resident has to provide data for verification by entering his/her identity card number, his/her birth date and his/her mother’s name (as the names of father and mother are not shown on the identity card), at the Identification Services Bureau website (www.dsi.gov.mo); - Return directly the declaration for change of address to the Identification Services Bureau. 5. Establishment of Support Centre for Wealth Partaking Disbursement
With an effort to cope with the implementation of the Scheme, the Support Centre for Wealth Partaking Disbursement was set up. The Centre is equipped with staff and a hotline to handle and entertain enquiries related to the Scheme, as well as to help solving other problems. The Centre will be opened on 13 July 2010 which is located in Avenida da Praia Grande, n.º 762-804, Edifício China Plaza, Opens on Mondays to Firdays (except public holidays), from 9:00 to 18:00 straight. The service hotline and facsimile are 2822 5000 and 2822 3000. The official website of Wealth Partaking Scheme http://www.planocp.gov.mo also provides the most up-to-dated information.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, arrived in Sichuan today on a four-day visit to learn more about the earthquake relief projects supported by Macao. Mr Chui told the press at the airport before his departure that he would also hold a meeting with leading officials of the province to follow up on the reconstruction projects supported by Macao, as well as a tourism co-operation project. Macao had earmarked 5.5 billion patacas for reconstruction projects after the province was struck by earthquakes in 2008. Mr Chui re-iterated that these projects should be completed by the end of next year, as requested by the State Council. Soon after his arrival, Mr Chui and his delegation visited Mianyang and inspected a middle school and a hospital which reconstruction was financed by Macao.
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