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Chief Executive visits earthquake-hit areas
The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, led a delegation of Macao SAR Government officials to Sichuan today, to console victims of the earthquake disaster and to learn more about the affected areas and reconstruction efforts. Mr Ho said on his departure that the SAR Government had already studied a number of reconstruction plans and detailed proposals would be formulated after discussion with related departments. The delegation arrived at Chengdu in the evening and was greeted by Mr Wei Hong, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and Vice Governor of Sichuan Provincial People’s Government. The delegation was scheduled to visit victims who are temporarily housed in the Danan district of Xiaoyudong Town in Pengzhou City, and teachers and students in temporary school in Tongji Town. The delegation would also visit the earthquake-hit areas in Xinxing Town and Dujiangyan City. Tomorrow evening, the delegation was scheduled to meet with CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee Members and leaders of the Sichuan Provincial Government to learn about more about reconstruction plans. A Hong Kong SAR Government delegation is also making the same visit. The Macao delegation is scheduled to return on Sunday, 29 June.
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MGTO promotional video “Experience Macau” premiered
The opening ceremony of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) Annual Marketing Meeting was held today (25th), at which the latest series of tourism promotional video, “Experience Macau” was premiered. With the five senses, ‘See, Taste, Feel, Hear, Touch’, Macau is to show the world its unique difference. Macau – a city that is literally and uniquely sensational!
To experience Macau is to experience a whole gamut of wonderful new sensations. Macau will treat your eyes to amazing sceneries, and your taste buds with new culinary delights; it will stimulate your mind with exciting thoughts and open your heart to fun and joy. The Macau Government Tourist Office has captured and distilled the essence of this inimitable city in virtual reality, offering you “Sight, Taste, Feel, Sound and Touch”, guiding you through this voyage of exploration. “SEE” the Difference
See some of the world’s newest, biggest and most spectacular hotels to some of the world’s oldest and most venerated churches and heritage architecture;
“TASTE” the Difference
Taste the best of cuisine from Western to the most mouth-watering dishes of China, from classic signature dishes to exciting fusion inventions;
“FEEL” the Difference
Feel the exciting changes of the seasons while exploring this unique city that cherishes its cultural heritage while at the same time embracing the best of the new. “HEAR” the Difference Hear the exciting and joyous sounds of Macau, from the songs of gondoliers on Venetian canals to grand opera and the latest and most popular hits, staged in lavish productions at venues both old and new, “TOUCH” the Difference Be in touch with Macau’s constant exciting new changes and new opportunities opening, from business to personal pleasure and gains, you will definitely be a winner if you care to explore. A Macau with exciting difference, a journey of unique difference. Launching Soon. Get ready to See, Taste, Feel, Hear and Touch the sensational experience.
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MGTO holds Annual Marketing Meeting Tourism diversification and service quality enhancement emphasized
The opening ceremony of the Macau Government Tourist Office Annual Marketing Meeting was held today (June 25) at the Venetian Macau-Resort-Hotel. Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Dr. Chui Sai On, attended the ceremony and Director of Macau Government Tourist Office, João Manuel Costa Antunes presented the tourism development of Macau and outlined future marketing strategies to trade, media, guests and MGTO’s representatives around the world. Speaking at the Marketing Meeting, Antunes pointed out that Macau’s tourism industry continues to move towards diversification. During the first five months of this year, visitor arrivals almost reached 12.6 million, registering an increase of 17.4% compared with the same period of 2007. Furthermore, international market arrivals continued its growth trend and surged close to 49% for the first five months. As of 2007, the market share of international markets in visitor arrivals was 9.3%, for the first five months of this year; Macau has achieved satisfactory results of 10.5% in the market share of international visitor arrivals. Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan China continue to be the three largest visitor generating markets, among which, Mainland China recorded a 25.5% increase in arrivals. Southeast and Northeast Asia also showed exceptionally strong performance, with arrivals growing 81.8% for Thailand, 68.9% for Singapore, 58.9% for South Korea, 53.3% for the Philippines, and 30% for Japan, showing a healthy progress towards diversification of source markets. Antunes expressed that diversification is the key direction. While continuing to employ the promotional theme “Experience Macau” under the slogan “A World of Difference, the Difference is Macau”, this year MGTO has introduced a series of promotions for visitors to experience Macau with the five senses “See, Taste, Touch, Feel and Hear”. MGTO’s representatives around the world will utilize their strong and extensive local networks to bring the promotional effect to its full. He stressed that MGTO is moving towards the goal of source markets and tourism product diversification. MGTO is putting forward a number of tactics which include reinforcing cooperation with airlines on new routes, developing and promoting new tourism products, such as wedding/honeymoon package and strengthening regional cooperation and multi-destination travel. He noted that MGTO will closely cooperate with airlines exploring new routes to broaden source market reach and attract different tourist segments. On the tourism products front, MGTO will integrate various resources while developing new products to suit different market segments in different source markets. Examples of such products include ‘Happily’ HK & Macau package launched in India, honeymoon tour and Macau/Zhuhai golf tour launched in Korea, heritage tour and incentive tour launched in Japan, gourmet tour launched in Singapore and business travel launched in the United States. On the regional cooperation front, Antunes pointed out that MGTO will explore different options of intra and inter regional and international cooperation in order to encourage multi-destination travel. Some examples are Australia ~Guangzhou ~Sanya ~HKG ~Macau tour, Korea ~Macau ~Hong Kong (Star Cruise) ~Sanya ~Vietnam ~Hong Kong ~Macau tour, Guangdong ~Hong Kong ~Macau tour, Zhongshan ~Zhuhai ~Macau tour and Hong Kong ~Macau tour. Macau SAR Government has provided steadfast support towards the development of business travel and the MICE industry, he added. Macau Business Tourism Center (MBTC) continues to assume the role of a platform to facilitate the development of MICE and business tourism through supporting various convention and exhibition activities and training efforts. Gary Grimmer, the business tourism consultant of MBTC, assists in compiling the Meeting Planner’s Guide and the MICE Clients Management Database which has already established 1,025 accounts and is in the course of reviewing 3,000 potential business leads. Antunes noted that MGTO has succeeded in bidding for the right to host the APAVT National Congress, the 11th Asia Pacific Life Insurance (APLIC) Congress and the 2009 PATA Board of Directors Meeting & Annual General Meeting. MGTO is working on an “Industry Partner Program” which will invite members from the MICE industry to participate in various activities including training programs, industry networking functions and tradeshows, he continued. Trade members involved in the program will receive sales leads, listings in publications and on the website as well as cooperative tradeshows and activity support. Antunes expressed that “The Historic Center of Macau” is Macau’s valuable tourism resource, and MGTO will utilize various promotional tools to showcase Macau’s world heritage to the world and further diversify the tourism industry of Macau. He expressed that guided by the policies of the Central Government, MGTO will strive to enhance the diversification of the tourism industry in accordance with the policy dictates of the Macau SAR Government. MGTO will also fine tune efforts in promotion and marketing while working closely with the travel trade to enhance the overall service quality in the tourism industry, aiming to develop Macau’s tourism industry healthily and to achieve diversification in order to increase the economic effect of tourism so as to bring about comprehensive benefits to the overall economy. MGTO also premiered the latest "Experience Macau” promotional video themed with the five senses “See, Taste, Feel, Hear and Touch” to display the difference of Macau. Following the opening ceremony, a mini mart was held for the local tourism trade to meet with representatives of MGTO to discuss business opportunities to bring in more visitors.
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IFT organises Summer International Exchange Programme “Intangible Heritage and Tourism”
Macao has always been the crossroad for the meeting of East and West cultures. For over 4 centuries, Chinese, Portuguese and people from the globe lives in Macao in harmony, creating the unique culture of Macao and the intangible heritage. Since the Historic Centre of Macao was successfully inscribed as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 2005, the society becomes more aware of the heritage conservation. For this reason, Institute For Tourism Studies has chosen “Intangible Heritage and Tourism” as the theme of the Summer International Exchange Programme this year, to encourage students from different places to understand the importance of cultural tourism to Macao’s tourism development. The 11th Summer International Exchange Programme is to be held from 22 to 27 June. With the support of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Economic Officer, Mr. Jean-Louis Vignuda, will be our honourable guest speaker, together with IFT’s academic members, including Dr. Sharif Shams Imon, Coordinator for Tourism Management and Heritage Management Programmes, Dr. Don Dioko, Director of International Tourism Research Centre, Dr. Baudouin Neirynck, Coordinator for Hotel Management and Tourism Event Management Programmes, Mr. Ong Chin Ee and Ms. Cora Wong. 15 members from the mainland, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Russia, India and Macao were carefully selected to participate in this exchange programme in order to have a blend of different cultural background. It aims to explore the key issues related to intangible heritage and tourism. The participants will have the opportunity to experience the various dimensions of Macao's rich Chinese and Portuguese heritage and to understand how these dimensions are affected by tourism and at the same time how they are affecting it. The main objective of the programme is to help participants learn how to develop a responsible cultural tourism strategy involving intangible heritage. IFT strives to elevate and globalise the tourism education in Macao through organising different types of exchange programmes to broaden the international vision of the students. Students can also learn how to be compatible with others and overcome the problem of cultural discrepancy, in order to prepare themselves for their future career in the tourism industry.
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Second medical team returns to Macao
The SAR Government would continue to send the necessary manpower and commodities to quake-hit areas, as requested by the Earthquake Relief Headquarters. The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Chui Sai On, said this at the airport today when he welcomed members of a second medical team who returned from Sichuan. The team, comprising 21 medical professionals from orthopaedic and infectious disease departments, left on 10 June to Sichuan to help the victims. Mr Chui said the team had taken part in relief work in hospitals in Nanchong, and that the Government would fully support reconstruction works in areas hit by the earthquakes on 12 May.
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Chief Executive to visit Sichuan
The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, is to lead a delegation to visit the earthquake-hit Sichuan Province, from Friday to Sunday. The objectives for the visit are to console the victims and learn about the affected areas and reconstruction efforts. The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR, Mr Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, will also lead a delegation to visit the province at the same time.
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The 13th Macao International Trade & Investment Fair (MIF) Promotion held in Hong Kong
Organised by Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), and co-organised by eleven chambers of commerce and trade promotion institutes from Macao and overseas, the 13th Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF) will be held at The Cotai StripTM Convention and Exhibition Center at The Venetian® Macao from 23rd to 26th October 2008.
To promote the 13th Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF), IPIM held a presentation session at Renaissance Harbour View Hotel Hong Kong on 20th Jun 2008, having invited The Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong to be a co-organiser of the Fair this year. The presentation was attended by the commercial and industrial personages of Hong Kong, representatives of consulates, trade and investment promotion entities in Hong Kong as well as businesspeople of the convention and exhibition sectors. The main objective was to introduce to the attendees from different countries and regions the overall arrangement of the 13th MIF to be held in October in Macao, and at the same time to present the investment environment of Macao. It was also an occasion for the participants to carry out exchange of views and ideas in respect of the new challenges and business opportunities brought by the latest development of Macao.
The promotional activity began with the welcome address by IPIM’s Acting President Jackson Chang, who also gave a presentation of the investment environment of Macao, followed by a briefing of the 13th MIF’s main activities and exhibition arrangements by Deputy Director Alan Ho of the 13th MIF Co-ordinators’ Executive Committee, and then an introduction about the Venetian Convention and Exhibition Center by Michael McCarty, Director of Sales of Venetian Macau Ltd.
“IPIM is devoting every effort to co-ordinate with the development of local and overseas markets through the trade and economic co-operation service platform of Macao and meanwhile giving support to the co-operation between convention and exhibition sectors. Through the MIF, participants will be able to have a deeper understanding of the growth dynamics as well as development and co-operation opportunities in Macao. Taking the advantages of regional co-operation, it helps to bring about the harmonization of economic systems,” said IPIM’s Acting President Jackson Chang.
With regard to exhibitions, this year’s MIF will enrich the contents of the various pavilions. The main pavilions include China’s Provinces and Cities Pavilion, Macao Pavilion, EU Pavilion, Portuguese-Speaking Countries Pavilion, Portugal Pavilion, International Trade and Investment Promotion Institutions Pavilion, International Convention and Exhibition Pavilion and a number of themed products pavilions. This year, MIF is intending to establish some new pavilions, namely “2010 Shanghai World Expo Pavilion”, “Franchise/Agency Business Pavilion” and “Taiwan Pavilion”. Regarding forums and conferences, by adopting the approach of “promoting exhibition with convention”, this year’s MIF will organize trade and economic conferences, and forums on co-operation in the convention and exhibition industry, which will help to bring in visitors from different countries and regions. As for business matching, this year’s MIF will introduce “delegation matching” which is a more sophisticated system for business matching service. With respect to the arrangement of activities, this year’s MIF will introduce an “on-site activities centre”, which will provide space for the chambers of commerce and exhibitors to demonstrate their strength with a variety of shows and displays, hence contributing to increasing the attractiveness of the Fair.
At the cocktail reception of the promotional presentation, IPIM thanked all the attending guests and invited everyone to participate in the 13th Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF) to be held on 23rd October 2008 in Macao.
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Launch of Cross Border Clearing of US Dollar Cheques between Macao and Hong Kong
With the objective to further strengthen the commercial activities between Macao and Hong Kong, as well as to cope with the practical needs arising from the development of the local economy and the financial market, it is the on-going effort of the financial regulators of Macao and Hong Kong to strengthen cross-border cooperation, and to facilitate fund flow between the two regions. Following the launch of “Macao / Hong Kong Cross-border Clearing of HKD Cheques” on 6th August 2007, which was aimed at reducing the time taken for Macao residents to receive the funds through HKD cheques issued by banks in Hong Kong, the “Macao / Hong Kong Cross-border Clearing of USD Cheques” will be launched this year by making use of the cross border cheque clearing platform already in place. The mechanism will provide swift, convenient and secure services to customers of banks operating in Macao in collecting their funds arising from U.S. Dollar cheques. The Monetary Authority of Macao has invited the current agent bank of the “Macao / Hong Kong Cross-border Clearing of HKD Cheques” ---- the Bank of China Macao Branch to be the agent bank of this new service in Macao to provide clearing service to participating banks. On 20th June, the Monetary Authority of Macao, Hong Kong Interbank Clearing Limited, Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Bank of China Macao Branch signed the co-operation agreement. The new “Macao / Hong Kong Cross-border Clearing of USD Cheques” will be launched on 23rd June 2008. Bank of China Macao Branch is well prepared in order to ensure a smooth start of this new service.
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Visitor Arrivals for May 2008
Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that visitor arrivals totalled 2,587,147 in May 2008, a year-on-year increase of 22.0%. Visitors from Mainland China (1,549,269) and Hong Kong (641,661) rose by 30.1% and 3.1% respectively, and those from Southeast Asia (151,490) surged notably by 64.5%. Same-day visitors took up 53.7% of the total arrivals, at 1,388,482. The majority of the visitors came from Mainland China, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, which accounted for 59.9%, 24.8% and 5.9% of the total respectively. Among the Mainland visitors, 42.5% (658,454) travelled to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme. In the first five months of 2008, visitor arrivals reached 12,582,153, up by 17.4% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China (7,417,320) and Southeast Asia increased by 25.5% and 59.8% respectively, but those from Hong Kong decreased by 1.7%. Furthermore, same-day visitors shared 52.9% of the total arrivals, at 6,657,441. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea went up by 9.4% over the first five months of 2007 to 3,924,918. Among them, 3,519,611 arrived at the Outer Harbour (+5.0%), with 57.4% from Hong Kong and 23.2% from Mainland China. Visitor arrivals by land grew by 21.5% to 7,939,806. Visitors arriving through the Border Gate increased by 15.4% to 7,507,149 and the majority were visitors from Mainland China (79.4%) and Hong Kong (14.3%). In addition, visitor arrivals by air totalled 717,429, up by 20.8% over the first five months of 2007. Visitors arriving at the Macao International Airport rose by 19.5% to 703,090, with those from Taiwan, China (35.0%), Southeast Asia (31.1%) and Mainland China (21.4%) as the major users.
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“Museums in Macao” (www.museums.gov.mo) Webpage Design Competition
To celebration the International Museum Day 2008, all museums in Macao joined together to hold the “Museums in Macao” (www.museums.gov.mo) Webpage Design Competition, with the objective to allow a more convenient access in acquiring information of each museum and reflect the rich resources of museums in Macao. Starting from today to the deadline of collection - 30 June, entry of the competition can be submitted to Grand Prix Museum in hand or by mail. Interested parties are welcome to take part in this competition of Public Group (no restriction on nationality, age and place of residence); current primary and secondary students of Macao during the competition period are welcome to take part in this competition of Student Group. Awards include: one Adoption Award – MOP5,000.00 with a certificate of honor; two Public Group Honorary Awards – each MOP1,000.00 with a certificate of honor; six Student Group Honorary Awards – each MOP500.00 book coupon with a certificate of honor. Any further inquiries, please contact Mr. Ng Chi Ho during the office hour at 853-87984181 or visit the webpage: http://macao.communications.museum/2008imd.
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