ୠ Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Chui Sai On delivered a speech at the press conference (see speech for details)

ୠ Director of MGTO João Manuel Costa Antunes presented a summary on the work and achievements of the tourism industry in 2007 and outlined the objectives and strategies for the year 2008 as follows:

Summary of 2007

ୠ Visitor arrivals in 2007 exceeded 27 million, a surge of 22.7% over 2006. Mainland China (14.87 million arrivals and a 24% growth), Hong Kong SAR (8.17 million arrivals and a 17% growth) and Taiwan, China (1.44 million arrivals) are the 3 largest source of visitors for Macau.

ୠ Last year, the top 10 visitor generating source markets were Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan, China, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, the USA, Singapore and Thailand. Mainland China remains the largest source of visitors for Macau, accounting for more than 55% of total visitor arrivals, while almost 48% were individual visitors.

ୠ As of the end of 2007, there were 85 hotels and similar establishments in Macau with over 17,000 rooms; 1,317 licensed tour guides, a 6.8% growth and 118 transferists, a 2.6% growth. MGTO has received more than 4,000 people in over 300 familiarization tours to Macau.

ୠ There are currently 49 Mainland cities implementing the Individual Visit Scheme, and the Mainland is expected to be the source market with the greatest growth potential and the most important source of visitors for Macau. Until December 31 of 2007, about 7.1 million Mainland travelers came to Macau on the individual visit scheme, accounting for 48% of the total arrivals from the Mainland.

ୠ The Macau Business Tourism Center of MGTO supported 90 events, which involved a total of 180,000 participants, a growth of 38%. The Center also supported 32 familiarization trips and site inspections.

Plan for 2008

ୠ Diversification of the tourism industry will continue to be the major objective, and the driving force of the tourism industry will be leveraged to enhance the economic effect of tourism on overall social and economic efficiency.

ୠ Four strategic directions include: 1. promote the development of refined tourism products and encourage the development of business tourism; 2. consolidate major source markets while exploring new combination of international markets; 3. innovate diversified promotional models and prioritize tourists' personal experience; 4. perfect public tourism facilities and optimize the quality of tourism services (actively promote Quality Travel Practices).

ୠ In marketing, MGTO will continue to employ the slogan "Macau, a World of Difference, the Difference is Macau" and "Experience Macau" as the promotional theme to highlight Macau's multi-faceted tourism products.

ୠ Various promotional activities on Macau tourism will be held in major, potential and forthcoming source markets around the world. Major source markets including the Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, China will be consolidated while actively exploring the international markets. MGTO will work hard to sustain the growth momentum of the Southeast Asia market, and at the same time, venture into forthcoming markets such as the Middle East, Russia, Vietnam and Indonesia for a more diversified market portfolio.

ୠ A number of world-renowned large scale events and cultural activities including Macau Grand Prix, Macau International Fireworks Display Contest, Macau International Music Festival and Macau Food Festival, among others, are playing an important role to attract tourists while at the same time enhancing Macau's international reputation and image. This year Macau hosts the 55th Macau Grand Prix, an important milestone of this signature event.

ୠ Main tourism product development includes scheduled tourist spots performance, refined highlight tours, "Taxi Ambassador" scheme, "Tourism Awareness Campaign" and the "Best of Macau".

ୠ MGTO will render its active support to a number of MICE activities and promote the development of the MICE and business tourism industry. MICE projects to be launched in 2008 include the Meeting Planners Guide, Client Management System Database (iDSS) and training schemes for the trade.