Gov’t sets tourism quality as priority

The government promised to establish agreements with tourism operators, to curb problems such as the ‘zero-fare tours’ or ‘forced shopping’ that usually lead to disputes

The number of visitor arrivals last year neared 30 million but the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) director says there is still a lot of work to do in order to improve the quality of the local tourism industry.
Yesterday, João Costa Antunes revealed at the MGTO annual press conference that visitor arrivals reached 28 million in 2011, an increase of 12.2 percent year-on-year.
He also announced that the office would set up a working team to initiate a three-step plan this year to improve tourism quality, in line with the goal of positioning Macau as a world centre of tourism and leisure.
Antunes told journalists that local tourism is moving “in the right direction”. “Macau has an attractive tourism product, not only in the entertainment area, but there is a certain diversification in the cultural and exhibitions and conventions areas,” he explained.
Nonetheless, he added, tourists from outside Greater China “reached three million last year, but there is plenty of work to do, especially in increasing quality.”
The official said that the goal is to work closely with operators to improve the quality of hotels and the industry food and beverage.
“It’s a way to increase the revenue of local operators and make Macau more renowned overseas,” he said.

Tour guidelines

Antunes said that Macau has signed cooperation agreements with several neighbouring cities in mainland China as a “great step forward” to curbing problems such as the ‘zero-fare tours’ or ‘forced shopping’ that usually lead to disputes involving tourists.
“This month, we will take another step at an industry level, by establishing agreements with operators. Government departments cannot [act as] police officers and private operators must establish guidelines,” he said.
Last year, during his 2012 Policy Address, secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Cheong U, announced the establishment of an internal working team that will focus on improving tourism. Yesterday, Antunes gave few new details about the group but did say that accessibility, public transportation and signage will be some of the areas the team will focus on firstly. In addition, he said that the team would propose a medium to long-term global development plan for the tourism sector, as well as long-term measures.
The office is also supporting the development of budget hotels, Antunes said, and will coordinate with the relevant groups in the tourism industry to launch an online booking platform this year to enhance the promotion of accommodations.
In addition, cross-department reviews will be carried out on the effectiveness and enforcement of the law against illegal accommodation. The results will tell whether there will be any changes to the enforcement strategy, he said.
Since the ban on illegal accommodation was introduced in August 2010, MGTO-led operations have inspected more than 1,100 apartments and 187 units have been sealed.

Hengqin attraction

Antunes recalled that in the future, tourism promotion will be linked to Hengqin Island. For instance he said that the theme park and zoo planned for that area “will be a very important contribution for Macau tourism development .”
He added that the territory is eyeing the markets of Russia and Dubai.
The SAR government has started talks with the Moscow authorities to ease visa requirements. A consensus on a mutual visa exemption agreement – such as the one that already links Russia to mainland China and Hong Kong – was reached in March.
According to preliminary figures, visitor arrivals to Macau hit 28,002,000 last year, registering an increase of 12.2 percent over 2010. Close to 25 million came from the Greater China region, with a growth of 13.5 percent.
International visitors rose by 2.2 percent to reach almost three million, representing 10.9 percent of total arrivals. It’s a significant growth, considering that the number of overseas visitors was just about 580,000 at the time of the handover, in 1999, 7.8 percent of total arrivals.
Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan continue to be the top-three visitor markets. Tourists from the mainland exceeded 16 million last year, a surge of 22.2 percent, of which 50 percent came from neighbouring Guangdong province.
Korea also performed well last year, with a rise of 20.2 percent to about 400,000 visitors.
Antunes noted that 46.2 percent of total arrivals, close to 13 million visitors, stayed overnight last year, a growth of 8.4 percent. From January to October, 66 percent of these people – seven million – stayed in hotels, up by 10 percent.
The average length of stay of the same period stood at 1.53 nights. This figure is still far below the average of 3.9 nights in Asia’s second biggest gaming hub, Singapore, and 3.6 nights both in the US casino capital, Las Vegas, and in neighbouring Hong Kong.
Antunes added that mainland China, Taiwan and Korea scored the highest growth in overnight guests in the first ten months.
India, which was not among the top ten markets, ranked sixth in terms of hotel overnight guests. US, United Kingdom and New Zealand were the top three markets by length of stay.