Three Smart Tourism Projects Online in Early 2019

Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) delivered the preliminary results of its Smart Tourism development initiatives on 12^th December, 2018, with MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes stating that MGTO had embarked upon a co-operative venture with Alibaba Cloud - a subsidiary of the Alibaba Group - to foster the development of Smart Tourism in the city. The partnership embraces three projects - namely, the ‘Tourism Information Interchange Platform’; ‘Application of Visitor Insights’ and ‘Smart Application of Visitor Flows’. The projects are essentially complete and expected to be operational early this year, delivering convenient experiences for visitors, tourism businesses and the residents of Macao alike.

Director Senna Fernandes remarked that in the Master Plan delivered in 2017 MGTO had mapped out a range of development strategies progressing Smart Tourism per the requirements of the Five-Year Development Plan (2016-2020) of the Macao SAR. When the SAR Government and Alibaba Group signed the Framework Agreement of Strategic Co-operation on Smart City Development, MGTO immediately embarked upon the first stage of co-operation to foster Smart Tourism development via Alibaba Cloud. The three aforementioned projects fully capitalise upon the pioneering technological expertise of Alibaba Cloud such as cloud computing and Big Data application, designed to progress Smart Tourism. She further remarked that technology applications continue to be mined for Smart Tourism, significantly improving the quality of travel experiences and lessening the impact of visitor crowds upon residents and tourist districts.  

MGTO has already implemented a range of Smart Tourism initiatives for residents and visitors such as mobile applications, interactive information screens, the Gastronomy Map website, and diversion of visitor traffic via mobile text messages in accordance with geographic locations during the 1^st October Golden Week. MGTO will further the application of Smart Tourism in various areas based upon the tourism information interchange platform, collecting statistical data about visitor flows based upon the Internet of Things, the smart planning of itineraries, brand new website for destination promotion, all-in-one mobile applications for Macao tourism, as well as chatbot, among other initiatives.