In a few years time, there’s every chance that the inaugural Greater Bay Area International Sports Summit will be seen as the start of Macao’s journey towards becoming a sporting destination in the Greater Bay Area (GBA). With the theme of “Connecting the World Through Sports,” the summit at Galaxy International Convention Center (GICC), – Asia’s most iconic and advanced MICE destination – put Macao at the epicentre of the sports world.
The event was sponsored by GICC and co-hosted alongside Releague, Lanxiong Sports and Macau Pass. It was organised by Modern Sports and with the support of the Sports Bureau of Macao SAR and Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute. Between them, the partners were able to create two days of fruitful knowledge sharing for the hundreds of global stakeholders in attendance, who included many boldface names.
Macao, City of Sports
GEG’s commitment to fostering the growth of sport as both a visitor attraction and a leisure industry is in line with the Macao SAR Government’s “Tourism + Sports” and “MICE + Sports” strategies. These plans place sporting events, and sport-themed conventions like the recent gathering, as fundamental drivers towards economic diversification.
The summit, held on 23 and 24 February, was certainly a great way to kick off, providing a platform for luminaries to network and exchange knowledge, and experience Macao’s emergence as a sports hub.
GEG’s track record in sponsoring and organising local sports events, such as the Macau International Marathon and WTT Champions Macau, further reinforces its ability to champion world-class sports initiatives.
Combining state-of-the-art MICE facilities, and access to the eight-hotel Galaxy Macau Integrated Resort in Cotai, the GICC is also an unbeatable location for sporting and other events. Unsurprisingly, the group has already been invited to offer the Galaxy Arena as a venue for the 2025 National Games of China, according to Kevin Kelley, GEG’s chief operating officer, who made the disclosure at a panel discussion during the summit.
With sports tourism listed as one of the top travel trends for the year, GEG’s winning game plan to promote the sports industry couldn’t have come at a better time. Its efforts align with the growing demand for sports-centred travel experiences, while continuing to develop Macao as a global centre of tourism and leisure.
A world connected through sports
A keynote panel at the summit, entitled “The Greater Bay Area: A Rising International Sports Hub,” emphasised the region’s potential to drive cultural and economic prosperity through the interplay of sports, technology and community. At the same time, it underscored the GBA’s ability to become a bridge to China for the global sports industry.
The roster of speakers reflected Macao’s ability to convene top names. After all, it’s not everyday you see Joseph Tsai, chairman of Alibaba and owner of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, rub shoulders with Olympian (and founder of the eponymous sportswear brand) Li Ning, as well as basketball legends Yao Ming and Dwyane Wade.
“NBA is more than a basketball league, it’s entertainment,” Tsai said in conversation with CNBC International senior correspondent Emily Tan, adding that the US basketball league had amassed a fanbase of 300 million Chinese viewers. The entrepreneur also stressed the importance of sports for youth in building self-confidence and resilience.“When I was 13, and my parents sent me to a boarding school in the US, the only way for me to fit in was to play a lot of sports. Through sports I have learned how to socialise, how to make friends.”
During twelve panels, speakers held in-depth discussions on hot topics linked with the sports industry from sports management to marketing, and more. Many offered diverse perspectives on China’s sports landscape and debated ways to capitalise on the growth of women’s sports, sports consumption in the digital era, as well as strategies for reaching new audiences through innovative platforms.
To add excitement to the summit, a basketball invitational match was held on the second day, and saw the GBA Summit Representative Team (for which Joe Tsai, Taiwanese singer Will Li and others played) face off against the Macau Basketball A Team, represented by the likes of Lai Ka-tong and Lo Hip-meng.
GICC: A leading MICE destination in Asia
Directly connected to the world’s largest Andaz Hotel – which has a dedicated check-in lounge for large MICE groups – the all-new GICC ranks among Asia’s most advanced venues for MICE events. It houses the city’s largest indoor arena and sprawls over 40,000 square metres of flexible space that can be tailored to any event. From high profile concerts and cocktail parties to conferences, exhibitions and cultural events, the venue is fully equipped with the latest technology to fit the needs of organisers. Plus, it’s capable of accommodating as many as 16,000 guests.
This versatility of the convention centre’s Galaxy Arena is also a point in case as far as sport events are concerned. Kelley pointed out that the venue can be transformed to accommodate everything from ice hockey to tennis matches.
Adding to that, being integrated within the Galaxy Macau Integrated Resort, the modern MICE venue has access to a total of eight luxury hotels (including the aforementioned Andaz Macau) and more than 1.1 million square metres of entertainment, shopping and dining. Beyond the resort, business travellers can easily get to experience the rich cultural heritage of Macao, from its UNESCO-listed historic centre to its unique gastronomy.
