The 50th Congress of the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies successfully closed today (4 December) in Macao. For the Portuguese travel trade among the over 1,000 participants, the congress provided an opportunity to experience in depth Macao’s latest “tourism +” intersectoral offerings and explore potential for cooperation in multi-destination travel.

During the congress, the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (APAVT) announced that Macao will be its “Preferred Destination 2026”. Riding on the designation, the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) will join hands with APAVT next year to conduct promotion to expand visitor source markets from Portugal, Spain, and Europe.

Return of the event to Macao creates new record of participants

Held in Macao for the sixth time in over four decades, this year’s edition of this important annual meeting of the Portuguese tourism industry also created a new record by attracting over 1,000 participants. The congress provided an outstanding opportunity for the city to play its role as a platform and showcase the latest developments as a world centre of tourism and leisure.

Under the theme “75 Years Looking to the Future”, the congress included three days of keynote presentations and discussions delivered by around 20 speakers to zoom in on hot topics for the Portuguese tourism industry. Portuguese travel agencies had the chance as well to join a business networking session with representatives from around 40 travel agencies, hotels and other companies from Macao, along with Guangdong, Fujian and Guizhou provinces. The Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR Government, Tai Kin Ip, also attended the welcome dinner of the congress to exchange with the delegates.

In addition, the delegates were able to experience firsthand the city’s diverse tourism infrastructures and residency shows, with around 60 of them joining a post-event familiarization visit to the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, and tours organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China to Shenzhen, Xiamen, and Guiyang, to sense the potential to jointly develop multi-destination itineraries targeting Portuguese travelers.

Designation as Preferred Destination for the fourth time to help expand Portugal and Europe visitor source markets

After 2012, 2019, and 2024, the designation of Macao as “Preferred Destination 2026” happens for the fourth time. Next year, MGTO and APAVT will join hands to conduct a series of work to promote the destination. The planned collaborative initiatives include Macao destination promotion at major travel shows, training about the destination targeting trade, organization of familiarization visits to Macao, among others. MGTO will also promote Macao in cooperation with APAVT through the association’s Spanish and European partners, to overall expand international visitor source markets from Portugal, Spain, and Europe, to foster Macao’s tourism and economy diversification.