The Macao Tourism Office (MGTO) is looking to further expand Macao’s tourism market base with a host of upcoming promotional events in the ten mainland cities that were added to the Individual Visit Scheme recently. That’s according to its director Helena de Senna Fernandes who told local media outlets that a Macao Week event to showcase the city’s offerings will be staged in Xi’an in August.
The MGTO head added that a number of small-scale promotional activities were planned for the northern cities of Harbin and Taiyuan, noting that there was a “considerable number” of visitor arrivals from these two cities.
The office was also looking to invite media and industry professionals from the cities to Macao in order to allow them to familiarise themselves with the SAR. Large-scale events such as roadshows were also on the table, although Senna Fernandes stressed that they would take place in phases.
[See more: Only one city recently added to the Individual Visit Scheme has a direct flight to Macao]
Despite the initiatives, transportation between Macao and the mainland cities in the Individual Visit Scheme remains an issue, with only the northeastern city of Qingdao directly connected to the SAR by air.
The MGTO chief meanwhile expressed confidence that the SAR would reach its target of 2 million international visitors this year. She also echoed the words of Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng, who had stated on Monday that the city would focus on developing its Southeast Asian market before concentrating its efforts on Europe and the Middle East.
Regarding recent roadshows in Jakarta and Bangkok, Senna Fernandes said they had both been “very successful,” drawing around 217,000 and 190,000 participants respectively.
