Roundup: Tourism, glittering star in Macao's economy

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 ◆ Roundup: Tourism, glittering star in Macao's economy

Just like drivers showing their speed in the Macao Grand Prix auto races that ended here Sunday (Nov.18), tourism and gaming industry of the Special Administrative Region (SAR) is growing on a fast track.

The number of tourist arrivals in the small city hit a record of more than 10 million last year, and the figure for this year is anticipated to be at least 11 million in line with estimates from local officials and industry insiders.

Launched by the Macao Government Tourist Office (MGTO), the 49th Macao Grand Prix auto races, one of the world's most exciting street circuit race meetings, served as a major tourism promotion adding to the city's charm.

The SAR government has, so far this year, launched a dozen events and promotions to make Macao a tourist mecca, such as the Macao International Music Festival, the Macao International Fireworks Display Contest and the Macao Lotus Flower Festival.

Macao with its roughly 450 years of history boasts a blend of the cultures of East and West that is exposed in local architecture, living style, traditions and food, a big attraction for visitors. While preserving ancient relics such as Ruins of St.Paul Church and the A-ma Temple, the SAR has been involved in building new tourist spots.

A sightseeing tower higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, for example, has opened to visitors. Soaring 338 meters above the city, it enables sightseers to enjoy breathtaking panoramic views of the heart of Macao, the Pearl River and even some islands of Hong Kong in a clear day.

Work on the Fisherman's Wharf -- which is designed to house buildings of different countries, imitated volcanoes and other scenic spots -- and the A-ma Cultural Village -- which shows the unique A-ma folklore -- are both being accelerated.

And the SAR's largest public square will soon emerge at the site that witnessed the hand-over ceremony of Macao's return to the motherland, covering 16,500 square meters.

After liberalization of the gambling industry, three winners of new casino licenses pledged to inject, in the near future, billions of dollars in Macao to build theme hotels and facilities for sightseeing and leisure-seeking purpose.

In addition, the SAR government is building the city into a MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) location to draw more business travelers to the city. Macao now offers a wide variety of meeting venues.

The efforts have paid off since tourist arrivals in Macao were on the increase month on month from January to September.

The MGTO posted that tourists to the city rose a year-on-year 10.3 percent to 8.49 million in the first nine months of the year, led by huge influx of China's inlanders.

Hong Kong remained the largest tourist source for Macao, bringing 3.92 million visitors to Macao. China's inland was catching up quickly by providing 2.95 million tourists, a sharp rise of 37 percent. And the number of tourists from Taiwan reached1.15 million, it said.

Market watchers noted that the city's tourism industry has benefited greatly from a sharp rise of travel agencies allowed by the China National Tourism Administration to manage the SAR-bound tours.

Currently, the local tourist office is seeking to make tourists stay longer and spend more as the number of same-day visitors still reached nearly half of the total in the nine-month period.

Fernando Chui Sai On, secretary for social affairs and culture of the SAR government, said earlier that the tourism and gaming industry would hopefully contribute more to the SAR's economic expansion after it reached 55 percent of Macao's gross domestic product last year.

More than 30 percent of the Macao people are now engaged in the tourism and related industry, a shining sector in the SAR economy.