Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng said on Wednesday that the six-month-long Art Macao cultural event attracted over 16 million visits.
Tam made the remarks while delivering a speech at a dinner held at Studio City as a wrap-up to Art Macao.
According to Tam, the 41 activities at 55 venues were visited over 16 million times during the last six months.
Tam said that he initially wanted to bring Art Basel to Macau, but was rejected because Art Basel is already taking place in Hong Kong, and to have one event in two places that are so close would not be as efficient.
“I was a little upset, but that inspired me to have another initiative, so we created Art Macao,” Tam said, pointing out that he invited the six gaming operators and local trading company Nam Kwong to be part of the event, and their art and cultural shows were held at their expense. Other participants included the consulates of Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Japan and Portugal as well as tourism offices of other cities and regions.
According to the Macau Post Daily Tam had previously said that Art Macao had a budget of 34.6 million patacas, of which 16.6 million patacas would be borne by the government, while each of the six gaming operators would pay 3 million patacas.
“This is the first edition, many people asked if it would continue, so I promise that it’ll definitely be held again next year,” Tam said.
