News

Macau recorded nearly half million tourist arrivals during the National Day “golden week” holiday, a growth of 13.7 % over the same period in 2005. About 60% of them are mainland visitors, with an increase of 4.25%. The Public Security Police Force figures show that from October 1 to October 7, visitor arrivals grew 13.7% over the same period last year to 492,564. Close to 294,000, or 60% of the arrivals are from Mainland China, a growth of 4.25%. Room supply of 3 to 5-star hotels has increased by 1,806 rooms to11,338, a growth of 18.9% over the same period of 2005. The daily average number of room nights occupied during the “golden week” was 9,531, an increase of 1,400 rooms or 17% above that of last year. The average hotel room rate was MOP$807.58 a jump of 23.32% over the same period of last year. According to figures provided by the hotels in Macau, the average occupancy rate of 3 to 5-star hotels during the “golden week” was 84.07%, a modest drop of 1.24 percentage points. Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) have jointly operated the “National Day Holiday Tourism Notifying System” from September 29 to October 8 with Guangdong Provincial Tourism and Fujian Provincial Tourism Bureau Administration to cope with the increase in visitor arrivals. During the National Day holiday, staff of MGTO has suspended leave to reinforce supervision at various tourist attractions and entry checkpoints, while MGTO’s information counters and tourist hotline operated as usual. Close collaboration among various departments and the support of tourism and related entities helped to enhance the hospitality of the city to welcome visitors. Press releases will be available on the website of MGTO:
http://www.macautourism.gov.mo/news/presslist.phtml?lan=en
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Immigration authorities recorded a total of 2,156,789
crossing the five immigration checkpoints of the Macao SAR over the National Day Golden Week holidays ( 1 October to 7 October ) Total number of arrivals stood at 1,069,676 with Border-gate:861,418
Lotus Bridge:4,190
Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal:166,421
Inner Harbor Wharf Nº14:12,968
Macao International Airport:24,679 Total of departures stood at 1,087,113 with Border-gate:903,265
Lotus Bridge:4,791
Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal:146,537
Inner Harbor Wharf Nº14:9,856
Macao International Airport:22,664 Meanwhile, total number of tourist arrivals in that period stood at 492,564,with a growth of 13.77%, over the 432,940 arrivals in the same period of last year.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, arrived in Vietnam tonight (Oct 8) on a five-day official visit. Speaking to the press at the airport before departing for Hanoi, Mr Ho said both the Macao SAR and Vietnam hoped that his visit would enhance relationship and facilitate bilateral co-operation in different areas. He said Vietnam was interested in entering the markets of the Portuguese-speaking countries by using Macao as a business platform. Mr Ho is scheduled to meet with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, Mr Pham Gia Khiem, in Hanoi and pay courtesy calls to high-ranking officials on his official visit. From Hanoi, Mr Ho and his delegation of Government officials are to visit the scenic Halong Bay, Danang City, Hoi An Ancient Town and Ho Chi Minh City. Moreover, the Macau Government Tourist Office and the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute would hold several events to promote Macao's tourism and exhibition industry to the Vietnamese business sector. At the same time, a delegation of about 80 Macao businesspeople would attend several business seminars with their counterparts there to explore more business opportunities.
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The Government would introduce a classification scale to inform the public on degree of salinity in the city's water supply. An inter-departmental task force, chaired by the Director of Port Authority, Ms Wong Soi Man, held a meeting today to discuss measures to tackle the seasonal increase in salinity of the water supply during the winter and early spring. The task force decided to introduce a four-level-scale to clearly notify the public on the quality of the water supply. Moreover, starting from early next month, the Government would educate the public through the mass media, with leaflets, hotline and website, on the effect of the increase in salinity to people's health. During the period of high salinity in water supply, the Macao Water Company would not collect the minimum charge from consumers, and the Government would distribute bottled water to the underprivileged and those in need.
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The Salinity Response Task Force held its second plenary meeting this morning to discuss a series of promotional tactics to educate the public in tackling the effects caused by salt tide. During the meeting, the task force agreed to introduce a four-level-level "Salinity Scale for Potable Water", distinguished by colours, to inform the public on the quality of the water supply and guidelines for health. The four levels are "Low" (green), "Moderate" (yellow), "Fairly High" (orange) and "High" (red), which are classified according to the salinity in water supply. The task force will promptly inform the public the latest condition of water supply via the mass media. The task force also further discussed a series of promotional tactics that would be worked out by means of different tools, such as mass media, website, leaflet, etc. in mid-October. They hope that this way the people would get more information and knowledge on salt tide and well prepared for it.
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The Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Ao Man Long, said today that the Government would set up an inter-departmental task force to tackle the salinity in the city's water supply. The Government was very concerned with the increase in salinity of the water supply and decided it was necessary to set up the task force to co-ordinate the various departments' efforts in tackling the problem, Mr Ao said. He was speaking to the press after attending a meeting of the local members of the Guangdong-Macao Working Group on Water Supply, and the Deputies of Macao to the National People's Congress. The local members briefed the Deputies on the measures to be taken to alleviate the salinity, which is expected to increase in the coming winter and spring. The Director of the Port Authority, Macao's chairperson to the Working Group Ms Wong Soi Man, said that the Government would work together with the Pearl River Water Resources Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources and the Macao Water Supply Company to tackle the problem.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Edmund Ho Hau Wah, is to pay a five-day visit to Vietnam on Sunday (Oct 8), at the invitation of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, Mr Pham Gia Khiem. Mr Ho is scheduled to meet with Mr Pham in Hanoi and pay courtesy calls to high-ranking officials on his official visit. During his stay in the Vietnamese capital, the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Hanoi will host a banquet for Mr Ho. From Hanoi, Mr Ho and his delegation of Government officials are also expected the scenic Halong Bay, Danang City, Hoi An Ancient Town and Ho Chi Minh City. He is also scheduled to meet with the Chairman of the Danang People's Committee and the Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. The Macau Government Tourist Office and the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute would organise about 80 Macao businesspeople to visit Vietnam to enhance bilateral business links.
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The “Macau Heritage Passport” campaign is organized by the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) and sponsored by the Macau Foundation. The third monthly lucky draw was held today at the lobby of the Macau Business Tourism Centre (MBTC), and 9 lucky winners were visitors from Hong Kong and Mainland. Officiating the draw were MGTO Director João Manuel Costa Antunes, Deputy Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Deputy Director Manuel Pires and Member of Macao Foundation Wu Zhiliang. The objective of the “Macau Heritage Passport” campaign was to attract more visitors to Macau, enhance their knowledge of “The Historic Centre of Macau” while driving the length of stay and spending of visitors to new heights. Until now, MGTO has published 150,000 “Passports”, of which over 16,014 have been distributed through MGTO information counters. “Macau Heritage Passport” campaign features instant lucky draws, monthly lucky draws and a year end Mega Lucky Draw offering fabulous prizes worth a total of MOP$8 million. 1,644 instant lucky draws were held from July 1 to September 30, giving out key chains, magnets, coasters, postcards and paper fans designed with Macau heritage images. A total of 511 entries were collected for the second monthly lucky draw. 9 winners, entitled to 8 Special Prizes and 1 Grand Prize, will be drawn at each of the 6 monthly lucky draws. The Grand Prize is a 500g golden miniature of the Ruins of St Paul’s worth MOP$100,000, while the 8 Special Prizes featuring 8 one-oz golden coin, 3 nights at a 5-star hotel and “Macau World Heritage Highlight Tour” for 2 persons, are worth a total of MOP$400,000. MGTO will notify the winners who have to collect and consume the prizes within 6 months from the day of the lucky draw. There will be a Mega Lucky Draw after the 6 monthly lucky draws, wherein 28 lucky visitors will be drawn. The winner of the Mega Prize will receive a 1kg golden miniature of the Ruins of St Paul’s worth MOP$200,000 and each of the 5 Grand Prize winners will receive a 500g golden miniature of the Ruins of St Paul’s worth MOP$100,000. In addition, there will be 22 Special Prizes worth over MOP$1.54 million in total, including 8 one-oz golden coins, 5-star hotel accommodation, Macau World Heritage Highlight Tours and Mainland China Heritage Tours. Participating visitors have to collect 4 stamps on their “Macau Heritage Passport” which can be obtained at MGTO Information Counters and participating hotels in Macau. One of the stamps can be obtained from the participating hotel where the “Passport” holder is staying; the second can be obtained from any of the participating merchants with a single purchase of MOP$300 or above. The last two stamps are to be obtained from MGTO’s Information Counters at the Macau Business Tourism Centre, Macau Tourism & Cultural Activities Centre and Guia Lighthouse located near a number of world heritage sites after the “Passport” holder has visited these sites. Participating visitors can enter an instant lucky draw by presenting the 4 stamps and the completed lucky draw slip to any of the designated MGTO Information Counters. In addition to the instant lucky draw, participating visitors can also enter the monthly and year end Mega Lucky Draws by dropping the stamped and completed lucky draw slip into the lucky draw box located at any of the MGTO Information Counters or participating hotels.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that in 2005 there were 1,489 cooked-food stalls, restaurants and similar establishments in business, a rise of 39 establishments over 2004. Alongside the continuous economic growth, Sales & other receipts totalled MOP 2,718 million, while expenditure amounted to 2,651 million, representing increases of 10.2% and 11.7% respectively. In 2005, there were 1,439 restaurants and similar establishments, an increase of 36 establishments over 2004. Total number of persons engaged in the industry was 14,618 as at the end of 2005, down slightly by 0.7% over the preceding year. Sales and other receipts grew by 10.2% to MOP 2,706 million, while expenditure amounted to MOP 2,642 million, up by 11.6%. In terms of expenditure, purchase of goods shared 41.6% of the total, with MOP 1,099 million; compensation of employees (MOP 853 million) and operating expenses (MOP 690 million) accounted for 32.8% and 26.1%. As a measure of an industry’s contribution to the economy, gross value added amounted to MOP 924 million, equivalent to an increase of 3.4% over 2004. With an increase of 3 stalls over 2004, there were 50 cooked-food stalls operating in the municipal markets in 2005, engaging a total of 88 persons. Sales & other receipts increased by 15.4% over 2004 to MOP 12.28 million; meanwhile, expenditure amounted to MOP 8.77 million, up by 12.3% over 2004.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Ho Hau Wah, said today that the spirit of innovation and accountability are the mainstay upholding the harmony of Macao. Mr Ho said this in his address to almost 1,000 officials and guests at the National Day reception, when he underlined that the changing environment brought about by globalisation and integration with neighbouring regions, which accelerated the rapid advances of Macao in many aspects. He said friction and confrontation generated in the course of development could be minimised by the spirit of innovation and accountability, and the sharing of this spirit by the people of Macao would sustain the harmony of the society. He called on government officials to uphold these virtues and take the initiative to reform on certain key areas. He thanked the Central Government’s all-out support for Macao, especially in critical moments, and said that it was an integral part to the evolution of the Special Administrative Region. After his speech, the Chief Executive toasted the prosperity of the Mainland and Macao, and to the health of the guests and the people of Macao. In the morning, Mr Ho and more than 300 officials and luminaries attended the flag-hoisting ceremony at Golden Lotus Square to celebrate the 57th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
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