Tourism

By Mark O´Neill The Muslims are among the oldest residents of Macao. They first arrived as traders from Persia and the Middle East in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), before the Portuguese, and have had a continuous presence ever since. The first mosque was built in the 1880s for soldiers of the Portuguese army from south […]

The central government has initiated a string of measures to tackle unruly tourists “uncivilised” behaviour as well as disputes between tourists and tour guides, the China National Tourism Administration’s (CNTA) Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan Tourism Affairs Department Director Liu Kezhi said Tuesday. Liu made the remarks at Government Headquarters on the sidelines of a […]

Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan said Sounday that the city’s pair of new pandas will finally meet the public today. Chan made the announcement on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of an exhibition at Seac Pai Van Park about the mainland’s current research on giant pandas. Chan said in a […]

Macau’s number of hotel guests dropped 10.4 percent year-on-year to 3.18 million in the first four months of the year, the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC) has announced. According to a DSEC statement, hotels’ average occupancy rate stood at 79 percent in the January-April period, a decrease of 7.3 percentage points. At the end of […]

Phase 2 of Galaxy Macau that is opening today will primarily focus on the mass market, Galaxy Macau Director of Operations Richard Longhurst said on Tuesday. Longhurst made the comments during a panel discussion at JW Marriott in Galaxy’s Phase 2 extension development, which cost HK$19.6 billion. The government has said that it has granted […]

The total number of visitor arrivals in the first four months dropped 3.6 percent to 9.96 million. However, the number of same-day visitors, who accounted for 56 percent of the total rose 0.6 percent. Mainlanders accounted for 66.8 percent of all visitor arrivals. Hongkongers continued to be city’s number-two visitor segment, at 21 percent of […]

The head of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) said on Monday that the hospitality industry is entering an “adjustment period” during which it should be easier to reserve guestrooms and hotel operators could be expected to carry out more promotions to attract guests from various regions and countries. MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna […]

Approximately 25,000 guestrooms in 43 hotels are set to open in the next few years, the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) has announced. According to a DSSOPT statement on Friday, 18 hotels are already under construction while 25 hotel projects are still under assessment for official approval by the bureau. While the 18 […]

Macau is expecting over 4.8 percent growth in tourist arrivals from India this year, betting big on its unique blend of museums, cuisines, shopping malls and casinos to lure a record number of Indians to the ‘Las Vegas of the East’, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported on Sunday. “In 2014, the visitor arrivals […]