Alexis Tam Delivers 2019 Culture and Tourism Policy

The Macao SAR Government Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, delivered his Policy Address on the areas of his portfolio for Fiscal Year 2019 in the Legislative Assembly on 3^rd and 4^th December, 2018.

In his Address on Culture and Tourism, the Secretary referred to implementing the ‘ART MACAO’ project; furthering the construction of Macao as a Creative City of Gastronomy; fostering the development of smart tourism and the remodelling of the Grand Prix themed museum; optimising and uplifting Macao tourism experiences; and developing multicultural tourism products.

Constructing ‘Innovative Macao’, fostering ‘ART MACAO’

While introducing the Policy Address, Secretary Tam remarked upon the success of Macao joining the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) in the field of Gastronomy in 2017. In line with the goals of the Network, the Macao SAR Government will construct ‘Innovative Macao’ to include important aspects like design, movies, gastronomy, literature, music, media arts, handicrafts and folk art, innovative technology and so forth, in order to further the diversified development of a creative city.

Secretary Tam also said that the government and gaming industry operators had reached a consensus, effective 2019, whereby operators will organise international art exhibitions and co-ordinate with the government’s signature arts and creative activities such as the Macao Arts Festival, Macao International Music Festival, and International Youth Dance Festival. ‘ART MACAO’ will revolve around international art activities to foster the construction of Macao as a new Asian platform for world class cultural events and international art exchange.

Developing Macao as a Creative City of Gastronomy

One of the highlights of this year’s Policy Address was the furthering of the development of Macao as a Creative City of Gastronomy. In its policy direction the government will continue to organise the ‘International Gastronomy Forum, Macao’, with gastronomy serving as the core theme of the promotion of Macao’s tourism and cultural image. Thus, gastronomic elements will be continuously included in tourist activities and large-scale events, deepening the community’s promotion of gastronomy. Meanwhile, the government will join the F&B industry in launching gastronomic tourism products and increase the promotional campaigning of Macao as a Creative City of Gastronomy in primary tourism source markets.

Regarding the innovation and dissemination of Macao gastronomy, the government will promote the creation of an historic database with information about Macanese cuisine recipes. In addition, chefs from abroad will be invited to exchange ideas with local chefs, with the creation of new recipes encouraged.

Greater Bay Area tourism, Belt and Road

In conjunction with the announcement and implementation of the nation’s ‘Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Planning’, Macao will tap into its high quality teaching staff and tourism training. In addition, Macao will be promoted as a base for Tourism Education and Training for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Given the recent opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, a related study will be conducted to evaluate visitor behaviour, means of travel, and profile and consumption patterns in order to define more effective promotional strategies.

The government will also encourage the tourism industry to explore more themed itineraries harnessing culture and history, world heritage, leisure and gastronomy, and hometown visits to attract more visitors to participate in multi-destination tourism in the Greater Bay Area. In the tourism development of the Belt and Road Initiative, not only will Macao tourism in the countries covered by the Belt and Road Initiative be promoted, but research into tourism opportunities in key nodes of the Belt and Road Initiative will be used as reference for future promotions.

Advancing on smart tourism

In order to boost the development of smart tourism the government will launch a new design for its Macao tourism website, adopting an interactive design to improve the user experience and enhance visual effects. It will also start data collection and release work on the tourism information interchange platform, encouraging government departments to share tourism industry related data with the public via the platform. This, in turn, will progressively comply with the establishment of a Big Data database of smart tourism, using related data for innovation and the development of related technology.

Meanwhile, the government will develop ‘chatbot’ with tourism knowledge to respond to visitors’ enquiries in a timely manner through various channels, thus continuing to optimise and upgrade service quality. Furthermore, the government will use Big Data to analyse visitors’ behaviour and apply the insights obtained as reference for future tourism promotion strategies and optimise tourism experiences to burnish the image of Macao as a world tourism city.

Remodelling of Grand Prix-themed Museum

The Grand Prix-themed museum is one of Macao’s iconic tourist attractions, the renovation of which the government will undertake wholeheartedly. The new museum will not only exhibit vehicles, medals, trophies and other related memorabilia and information regarding the Macau Grand Prix but will add interactive and leisure areas plus a multimedia area and games area to enrich exhibition content and experience. Showcasing the history of the Macau Grand Prix and Macao’s unique tourism experiences is expected to resonate favourably with family groups.

In addition, the Cultural Affairs Bureau will complete construction of the Xian Xing Hai Memorial Centre, the green villas on Avenida do Coronel Mesquita, and Ka Ho Village of Our Lady protection area, enabling residents and visitors to experience Macao’s cultural atmosphere.

Celebrations of 20^th Anniversary of Establishment of MSAR, Year of China in Portugal

December 2019 marks the 20^th Anniversary of the establishment of the Macao SAR. Accordingly, Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) will organise a series of celebratory events in its primary tourism source markets to attract more visitors to visit Macao; MGTO will, with other departments, introduce new elements to the events, to dovetail with all annual mega events throughout the year to share the joy with residents and visitors.

2019 also marks the 40^th Anniversary of China-Portugal relations. To accommodate the ‘Year of China in Portugal (with the Year of Portugal in China running simultaneously in 2019) event, MGTO will organise a series of mega promotional events in Portugal to stimulate Macao tourism, gastronomy, culture and festivals, deepening the friendship and cultural exchange between China and Portugal. MGTO will also leverage the promotion of the Year of China in Portugal and ‘ART MACAO’ related mega events to publicise the long history of Macao’s East-meets-West culture.

For more information, please visit the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture website (in Chinese and Portuguese): www.gsasc.gov.mo.