Macau is a main highlight of this year's Lisbon Travel Market (BTL, from the Portuguese abbreviation), which opened on Wednesday, as it is the International Guest Destination of the fair.

The Macau delegation to the fair is headed by Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) director, João Manuel Costa Antunes. MGTO is participating in the event with a booth with an exhibition area that more than doubles that of last year. The attractions at the Macau booth and promotion programs also increased this year, with highlights such as Miss Macau 2008, among others. Another novelty of this year's edition is the joint participation of Macau and other four destinations from the Pan-Pearl River Delta region, which are represented by local tourism heads.

Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Sichuan are represented on the Macau booth. The delegation from the Pan-Pearl River Delta includes the Zhuhai Tourism Bureau director Zhang Meisheng, Tourism Administration of Jiangmen Municipality director Zhou Jinxin, Zhongshan Tourism Bureau deputy director Liang Weilin, among other official representatives from Sichuan and tourism operators from the six destinations.

BTL invited Macau as the International Guest Destination on the year of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), offering to the city a unique opportunity to promote itself with more visibility on the main tourism event organized in Portugal every year. During the five-day event, Macau will be highlighted on the main and sidelines program of BTL.

The opening ceremony of BTL 2009 was attended by Portuguese minister for Economy Manuel Pinho, the Secretary for Tourism of Portugal, Bernardo Trindade, among others. The moment was enriched by an eye dotting ceremony, dragon and lion dancing performance presented by Macau. Before the ceremony a Macau Lunch for the guests of the fair at BTL took place. At the end of the day, MGTO invited the media for a cocktail at the Macau booth.

On the second day of BTL, the 22nd, Thursday, Macau is the sponsor for the Day of the Travel Agents, a new activity of the fair presented this year organized together with the Portuguese Association of Travel Agencies (APAVT) aiming to engage the travel agents. The Travel Agents Day program includes a presentation of Macau as a tourism destination conducted by MGTO's representative in Portugal, Rodolfo Faustino. Macau is also the host of a cocktail as part of the program of the Travel Agents Day.

Friday, the first day which BTL is both open to the public and tourism professionals, is the Macau Day. The day opens with an eye dotting ceremony, lion and dragon dance performance. Afterwards the Macau travel trade presents to its Portuguese counterparts the city's potential as a business tourism destination. On the same day Macau will also host a dinner for friends of Macau, which will be participated by more than 400 guests.

The Macau booth at BTL 2009, with 225 square meters, stands out for its decoration and many attractions offered. Miss Macau 2008, Florence Loi, will visit the booth during the fair to help promoting the city. MGTO also brought to BTL two fortune-tellers, a silhouette artist and a calligrapher. The atmosphere of the booth will be enriched by the live music performances of guzheng, pipe and Chinese flute. The booth is decorated on the exterior walls by images of the Macau World Heritage. On the inside, Macau is shown through the campaign launched last year which shows the unique difference of Macau with the five senses, "See, Taste, Feel, Hear, Touch", as a way to "Experience Macau". The booth is topped by a structure in the shape of a fan and at the entrance there's a giant Chinese lantern.

MGTO established Portugal as one of the priority source markets for 2009, as this year is the 10th anniversary of the Macau SAR. In this regard, Macau hosted the APAVT 34th National Congress at the end of last year as a promotional strategy to show the new Macau to Portuguese tour operators, and attract more visitors from Portugal to Macau.

BTL 2009 takes place from January 21 to 25 at FIL- International Fair of Lisbon, with the first two days (21-22) for tourism professionals only and the other three (23-25) also open to the public. BTL is organized in Portugal since 1989. Macau has participated in the event since the first edition. The fair welcomed last year around 800 exhibitors from more than 50 countries and territories and was visited by more than 60,000 people.