The Tourism Development Committee (CDT, on its Portuguese acronym) convened the second Plenary Meeting of 2024 yesterday (28 November), presided over by Secretary for Economy and Finance and Committee Chairperson, Lei Wai Nong.

Anticipate total visitor arrivals will reach the goal of 33 million this year

Secretary Lei Wai Nong expressed that with the series of favorable measures for Macao as implemented by the Central Government this year, alongside the concerted effort of various members of the society, Macao’s tourism development keeps trending upward. Macao welcomed over 29 million visitors in the first ten months of 2024, which surged year on year by 28.1% and reached 87% of the levels of the corresponding period in 2019. He has great anticipation that total visitor arrivals will reach the goal of 33 million this year.

He highlighted that with the enormous support of the Central Government, the SAR Government has been vigorously pushing forward the implementation of the “1 + 4” development strategy for adequate diversification, which has endowed Macao’s tourism industry with the vast potential to progress forward. By a variety of measures, the Government strives to propel tourism development towards diversification and sustainability, consolidating Macao’s status as the world centre of tourism and leisure and brightening the city’s golden calling card as an international metropolis.

At the meeting, MGTO presented an overview of the latest tourism development in Macao, followed by a presentation of the research entity invited to elaborate on the second-phase review study on the Macao Tourism Industry Development Master Plan.

Certain figures reach or surpass 2019 levels

Deputy Director of MGTO, Ricky Hoi, depicted an overall picture of the latest tourism situation in Macao. He indicated that the average lengths of stay of all visitors, overnight-stay visitors and hotel overnight guests from January to October of 2024 have reached or surpassed the corresponding figures in the first ten months of 2019.

Between January and October 2024, Macao registered an average daily volume of about 95,000 visitor arrivals. In February and August, the daily average even surpassed 110,000. The daily average figures alsoshowed a surging rate of recovery to the levels of the corresponding periods in 2019. Average daily visitor arrivals of this August even exceeded that of August 2019.

In terms of international markets, international visitor arrivals amounted to about 1.89 million between January and October 2024, which reached 73.1% of the levels of the corresponding period in 2019. In the first ten months, the average daily volume of international visitors was 6,196, while the daily average of each month ranged between 5,000 and 6,000, bespeaking a steady trend overall.

Master Plan supports “1 +4” in the second phase

The Macao Tourism Industry Development Master Plan (referred to as the “Master Plan”) was first published in 2017. In 2021, MGTO completed the first-phase review study on the implementation progress of the Master Plan. The Office will regularly assess various departments’ work progress, examine the obstacles and proposed solutions in carrying out the Master Plan, so as to make appropriate amendments to the Master Plan during follow-up evaluations, in parallel with Macao’s vision to become a world centre of tourism and leisure and the development strategy of “1 + 4” for adequate diversification.

The representative of the MGTO-commissioned research entity gaveCDT members an informative update on the second-phase review study on the implementation progress of the Master Plan. Targeting the shifts in local tourism development, study findings and suggestions were raised on six major issues as follows: promote the diverse development of the leisure tourism industry, expand the diversity of visitor markets, deepen regional tourism integration, strive for sound and resilient tourism growth in steady progress, tourism product design and planning, as well as tourism innovation empowered by artificial intelligence.

Collective Wisdom deepens “tourism +” continuously

At the meeting, various Committee members raised opinions and suggestions on the following topics: development of the visitor markets of Middle East, Southeast and Northeast Asia and more, supporting launch of more international air routes and enhancement of the Macau International Airport’s function as a transit hub, promotional measuresto attract visitors regarding airport transportation in the cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, multilingual tour guide training, Muslim-friendly facilities, beautifying old districts and introducing dining elements, high-end transfer car service for business travelers and optimization measures for tour bus parking, among other issues.

The meeting attendees include Chief of Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Ku Mei Leng, and official representatives of the following governmental entities including Secretariat for Security, Secretariat for Transport and Public Works, Macao Government Tourism Office, Macao University of Tourism, Cultural Affairs Bureau, Labour Affairs Bureau, Macao Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute, Municipal Affairs Bureau, Civil Aviation Authority and Consumer Council, along with representatives of Macao Light Rapid Transit Corporation, Limited, the integrated resort enterprises as well as the tourism and other related sectors.

Through the mechanism of CDT, MGTO will continue to collaborate with the travel trade in capitalizing on the Central Government’s preferential measures for Macao to deepen integration across “tourism +”, promote the integrated tourism and leisure industry development, reinforce the city’s positioning as a world centre of tourism and leisure, and brighten Macao’s golden calling card as an international metropolis.