MGTO aims to attract 30 million visitors to Macau

Wednesday 27th of January 2016

The government intends to attract around 30 million visitors to Macau this year, and persuade more to stay overnight, said Macau Government Tourist Office director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes at an annual press conference.

During the press conference, Fernandes said last year, the total visitor arrivals to Macau hit 30.7, million, a slight drop of 2.6 percent compared with 2014. Visitors from the Greater China markets topped 27 million with a decrease of 2.4 percent.

The 2016 target of 30 million is similar to 2015, but a stronger emphasis will be placed on having visitors stay longer.

“I cannot say that in future we will see the proportion of overnight visitors outweigh day-trippers every month,” Ms Fernandes told a press conference, “but our goal is to attract more overnight guests.”

Fernandes says MGTO is targeting four major goals to develop tourism in Macau, which includes increasing focus on the planning of tourism development, developing electronic administration and enhancing tourism service quality, promoting smart tourism and strengthening regional cooperation.

On the topic of smart tourism, Fernandes said there will be a focus in this area particularly this year, which will include use of the Internet and social platforms for tourism promotion, as well as upgrading MGTO’s mobile apps and audio guides.

There will also be a focus on attracting more visitors from emerging markets, including the Middle East and India, according to Fernandes.

“India is the market that we will focus on and make continuous assessment of the market conditions,” said Fernandes. “Now we are striving to have India’s Outbound Travel Mart held here.”

MGTO will also be looking into the fall in visitors from Singapore and Malaysia observed in 2015.

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