Macau and Hong Kong are joining hands to deepen tourism cooperation. The Macau Government Tourist Office invited more than 100 Hong Kong tourism industry leaders to visit Macau for a two-day study tour. The delegation consisted of government officials, tourism industry representatives and members of the media. During the visit, the representatives participated in the work meeting, the tourism destination promotion meeting of Macau and Hengqin, and the Hong Kong and Macau Tourism Trade Exchange Symposium. They also had the opportunity to inspect various tourist attractions and hotels.
The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr. Lei Weinong, emphasized the commitment to promote the comprehensive development of leisure tourism. He said that in the past three years, Macau’s tourism industry has undergone major changes, and that the SAR government will continue to join hands with the industry in the future to reorganize the tourism resources at hand and lead the way in integrated leisure tourism. Promote the development of the industry and open a new chapter for Macau as a world center of tourism and leisure. Work together to open up a new situation in the comprehensive development of leisure tourism.
Director of the Tourism Bureau Senna Helena de Senna Fernandes said that with the relaxation of border epidemic prevention measures in Macau, water and land transport services in Hong Kong and Macau are steadily resuming operations. In recent days, the number of tourists from Hong Kong has increased significantly. MGTO is actively preparing promotional activities specially designed for the Hong Kong tourist source market, including the latest transportation discounts, as well as arranging KOLs to visit Macau and promote them on social media.
Fernandez said that the tourism industry exchange meeting will introduce the latest tourism resources of Macao to the Hong Kong industry. Macau and Hong Kong travel agencies are encouraged to form partnerships to launch new tourism products and special offers. These will promote mutual exchanges, open up new possibilities for business cooperation, and help the recovery of tourism in Hong Kong and Macau.
Member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Functional Constituency – Tourism), Yiu Peihua said that this exchange visit is of great significance to the development of tourism in Hong Kong and Macau. Mutual visits, tourism and business exchanges between Hong Kong and Macau are gradually returning to normal. This event officially established the in-depth cooperation between the two cities and provided a rare opportunity for the tourism industry.
The multi-destination tour to Hong Kong and Macau has always been a popular tourism product for mainland and overseas tourists. In the post-epidemic era, the two cities need to strengthen cooperation to jointly build a destination brand and lead the Greater Bay Area to become a world-class destination.
According to the “Asia Travel Weekly” report, this year’s Spring Festival Golden Week received a total of 451,000 tourists, including 165,000 tourists from Hong Kong. The SAR has become the second largest tourist source market in Macau. Seizing the opportunity of the relaxation of border control measures in Hong Kong and Macau, MGTO launched the Hong Kong marketing plan in advance, launched a number of promotional activities and special offers, and actively prepared to welcome Hong Kong tourists.
On Jan. 8, China abandoned its zero-coronavirus policy, opening its borders to international travel after nearly three years. While some requirements still apply to the rest of the world, travel between the mainland and the Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions has resumed as of today.
Customs checkpoints between China and the two have reopened. “In order to ensure safe, orderly, and smooth customs clearance and cross-border passenger transport, and further improve the experience of personnel exchanges, port inspection departments and cross-border passenger transport operators strengthen organization, coordination and dynamic scheduling, and open ports adjacent to Hong Kong and Macau in the Mainland as much as possible,” Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office issued a joint statement.
Searches for round-trip air tickets between Hong Kong and the mainland have increased sevenfold on the Qunar travel website since the Feb. 3 announcement, according to the state-run China Communications Daily. For the special administrative region, mainland tourists make up the majority, with about 51 million arrivals in 2018, almost seven times its population, so their return is crucial to the city’s recovery.
