News

Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) is promoting the city at the ITB Berlin, the world’s leading travel trade show that opened today with close to 11,000 exhibitors from some 180 countries and territories. MGTO has chosen business tourism as the main focus for the Macau promotion at the 41st edition of ITB, as the Macau SAR government is actively driving developments in the conventions and exhibitions area, following the opening of new hotels and other tourism infrastructures, equipped with stat-of-the-art meeting and exhibition areas. In addition to the delegation headed by MGTO deputy director, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, the Macau booth also hosts representatives from The Venetian, Mandarin Oriental, Galaxy, Macau Tower and TurboJET, who are there to promote their products and make business contacts. The decoration of the Macau booth at the 41st ITB is a replica of the façade of the building of the Macau Business Tourism Center. On Friday it will stage a Macau Cocktail for tourism professionals and media. This year, the Macau booth offers to the visitors an opportunity to have their profile cut in paper or their name written in Chinese characters through the hands of two Macau artists, Wong Cheong Tao and Wong Chung Hung, father and son, invited by MGTO to participate in ITB. Throughout the five days of the exhibition, which closes on Sunday, official representatives from travel destinations, hotels, tour operators, travel books publishers, cruise organizers, on-line suppliers, among many others, participate in the world’s major annual concentration of tourist products and services. In parallel, another major annual happening takes place, the ITB Convention Market Trends & Innovations, among many other events. Last year, ITB achieved a new record, welcoming more than 162 thousand visitors, a 14.5 increase, and 10,856 exhibitors, 4.3 percent more, compared to the previous edition. This press release is available at: http://www.macautourism.gov.mo
…

The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, expressed his warmest regards and wishes from Macao to Mr Ma Man Kei when visited him in hospital in Beijing this afternoon. The Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Mr Ma is hospitalised in the People's Liberation Army General Hospital (301 Military Hospital). Mr Ho was accompanied by the Chief of the Office of Chief Executive Ho Veng On, on the visit. The Chief Executive is in Beijing to attend the opening of the Fifth Plenary Session of the Tenth National People's Congress held this morning. He is scheduled to return to Macao tonight.
…

The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah left today for Beijing to attend the opening of the Fifth Plenary Session of the Tenth National People's Congress. When asked by the media at the Macao International Airport before his departure, Mr Ho said he would probably not meet with State leaders this time as he had recently met them on his duty visit. He said he would visit the Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Mr Ma Man Kei, who is hospitalised. During Mr Ho's absence, the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan, will act as Chief Executive.
…

The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, is scheduled to leave for Beijing on Sunday (4 March) to attend Monday’s opening of the Fifth Plenary Session of the Tenth National People's Congress. During Mr Ho’s absence, the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan, will act as Chief Executive.
…

Urban planning is of great importance to Macao and the Government would study Macao's needs to develop a modern and scientific plan for the city's future urban development, the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today. Speaking at a reception hosted by the General Union of Neighbours Association of Macau to celebrate the Lunar New Year, Mr Ho said that as the economy continued to expand, the city's environment had changed rapidly in the past few years. He said the Government would carefully study Macao's needs in economic development, environmental protection, heritage conservation, population, infrastructure, transport and urban renewal, in order to better develop a urban development plan for the future. Regarding Macao's transport, the Chief Executive said that by consulting the public and integrating the city's resources, the authority would better implement policies and measures in this area.
…

The Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Lau Si Io, in his swearing-in ceremony today, reaffirmed that his working principles would be fair, selfless and pragmatic. Mr Lau took the oath at Government Headquarters in the afternoon, witnessed by the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, and more than 100 guests including principal officials, members from the Executive Council and legislators. After the ceremony, Mr Lau told the press he was grateful for the Chief Executive’s nomination and the approval from the Central Government. He said he had already started to meet with officials in the areas of transport and public works, and had listened to their reports. He said he believed that would facilitate his work in the future, with a better understanding. Mr Lau also said he would work out the policies, while adjustments could be made during its implementation. He would conduct further study on the adjustments. Under the MSAR Basic Law, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works is a principal official. The Chief Executive has to appoint a nominee, who has Chinese nationality and is a permanent resident of Macao. The Chief Executive would have to submit his nomination to the Central Government for approval.
…

With the successive completion of various large-scale hotels and resorts, the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Exhibitions) industry of Macau is gradually internationalized. Deputy Director of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), Mr. Manuel Pires headed the MGTO Philippines team to host the “2007 Corporate Roadshow”, a 12-day promotion that comprises corporate dinner, arts exhibition, photo exhibition, among other activities. A selected group of 100 corporate decision-makers from various industries were invited to join an MGTO hosted corporate dinner on Feb 27th. During the dinner, Deputy Director Pires introduced to the participants the mix of east and west cultures of Macau as well as the most up-to-date tourism developments. Last September, four famous Filipino artists (Ben Cabrera, Phyllis Zaballero, Claude Tayag, Soler Santos) led by Philippine National Artist Ben Cabrera came to Macau to paint their impressions of Macau. Their paintings will be exhibited from February 28th to March 7th in The Podium Shopping Mall of Ortigas Centre, showcasing Macau through their eyes. Celebrities, including former President of the Philippines, Fidel Ramos, and collectors who are prospective travelers to Macau will attend the opening ceremony, during which the artists will each present one of their paintings to MGTO as a gift to Macau. Other than the arts exhibition, a travel trade and photo exhibition with the theme “Explore, Experience, Enjoy Macau” will be held from March 9th to 11th at The Podium. Exhibits will feature the past and present of Macau, namely the ‘Historic Centre of Macau’ and the new developments. Moreover, a travel trade area will be set up for local residents who are interested to visit Macau. Last year, over 170 thousand people from the Philippines visited Macau, a considerable increase of 87 percent compared with 2005. At present, there are 22 weekly air services between Macau and Manila. MGTO aims to arouse the interest of more enterprises and residents of the Philippines to visit Macau through this series of promotional activities.
…

Women in Macao are playing more important roles in promoting the economy and public affairs, the Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, said today. Speaking at a reception hosted by the Women's General Association of Macau to celebrate International Women's Day (IWD), Mr Ho said as Macao's economy continued to expand, more and more women have entered the workforce, making the most out of their potential and forging ahead in their careers. They have also devoted their efforts to public affairs, putting their attention not only on family and female issues, but also on state matters and the development of the city. Mr Ho said he believed that the increasing participation of women in social affairs would help reach consensus in different issues for the community and promote a harmonious society in Macao. Moreover, Mr Ho praised the host's efforts in promoting its services to the society and he pledged that the Government would continue to support social services associations of its kind for the betterment of the less privileged.
…

Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) and VIVA Macau joined hands to promote Macau tourism in Jakarta, Indonesia. A series of promotional activities hosted by MGTO and VIVA Macau in Jakarta today (February 28) started with a presentation on Macau’s latest tourism industry development by Betty Fok, Marketing Division Head of MGTO, who also highlighted to the guests the World Heritage of Macau, the new tourism and entertainment facilities as well as the latest tourism products. Andrew Pyne, CEO & Founding Partner of VIVA Macau, introduced the company’s development strategies and flight expansion plans. Currently, there are 3 direct flights between Macau and Jakarta every week. Joining the presentation were representatives from Macau International Airport Co. Ltd., hotels and travel agents, who met with the local travel trade and media. About 100 travel trade and media from Indonesia attended the event. Following the presentation and ensuing luncheon, representatives of the Indonesian travel trade attended a mini mart organized by MGTO and VIVA Macau to build relationship and explore opportunities to cooperate with their Macau counterparts in attracting visitors from Indonesia. Indonesia is a beautiful country boasting 1,300 islands. With over 200 million in population, Indonesia is a potential source market for Macau. In addition to Indonesian visitors to Macau on holidays, a large number of Chinese living in Indonesia often travel to their hometowns in Macau or on the Mainland, making Indonesia one of the major source markets for MGTO to develop. The Indonesian market witnessed significant increase in recent years. In 2006, Macau welcomed over 680,000 Indonesian visitors, a remarkable growth of 47.53 per cent. MGTO looks forward to enhance cooperation with the travel trade in Indonesia to capture the growth potential of the source market.
…

According to the results of the Employment Survey released by the Statistics and Census Service, the unemployment rate for November 2006 - January 2007 was 3.4%, which fell by 0.1 percentage point over October - December 2006 and 0.5 percentage point over November 2005 - January 2006. The underemployment rate was held stable at 0.8%, same as that recorded in October - December 2006, but down by 0.3 percentage point year-on-year. About 900 unemployed persons were searching for their first job, representing 9.2% of the total unemployed population, a decline of 1.5 percentage points over the preceding period. Compared with October - December 2006, the unemployment situation was improved in Transport, storage & communications; Wholesale & retail trade; and Real estate, renting & business activities, while the situation in other sectors remained stable. Total labour force was estimated at 291,000 in November 2006 - January 2007, of which 281,000 were employed and 10,000 unemployed. Labour force participation rate was 66.8%, up by 0.4 percentage point over the preceding period and 2.6 percentage points year-on-year.
…