Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said on Thursday that this year’s fireworks contest’s budget was yet to increase by 15 per cent year-on-year.
Senna Fernandes, who also heads the Tourism Crisis Management Office (GGCT), made the announcement during a press conference about the 28th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest at the Tourism Activities Centre (CAT) in Zape.
The contest will be held on September 3, 10, 15, 24 and October 1, featuring 10 competitors from the mainland, Canada, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.
Senna Fernandes said the budget for the contest was 27.6 million patacas, a 15 per cent increase from last year. She pointed out that the fireworks and related equipment will be delivered by ship to Macau, rather than being transported overland, and that the cost of shipping had increased. She was quick to add that it was safer to transport the goods by sea than by land.
Last year’s fireworks contest’s budget was about 24 million patacas, according to official figures.
Macau’s first pyrotechnic display competition was held in 1989 with five competing companies. The fireworks industry was one of the backbones of the local economy in the 20th century.
(Macau News / The Macau Post Daily)
