Macao to Stage Mega Tourism Promotion in Portugal

Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) will organise a mega ‘Experience Macao – Portugal’ promotion in mid-March during BTL - Lisbon Travel Market 2019, in which Macao will very much be in the spotlight as this year’s International Guest Destination. Capitalising on this BTL exposure, Macao will conduct a string of activities in Lisbon and Porto focusing on its 20^th Anniversary Celebrations of the Establishment of the Macao Special Administrative and the 40^th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Portugal, both marked this year.

Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam will head the Macao delegation to Portugal, which will also comprise MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Cultural Affairs Bureau President Mok Ian Ian, and Institute for Tourism Studies President Fanny Vong, among other officials, in addition to several of the territory’s performing groups, Macanese chefs, and others.

Macao will be a major highlight of BTL 2019, running from 13^th to 17^th March in the Portuguese capital, as the International Guest Destination of the country’s most important tourism fair. In addition, the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies has selected Macao as its Preferred Destination 2019, channelling even more attention from the Portuguese tourism industry to Macao throughout the year. MGTO will participate in BTL on multiple levels, including erecting a booth showcasing Macao’s main tourism attractions, employing virtual reality, serving delicacies prepared by Macanese chefs from a food truck, conducting street dances, and ‘flying the flag’ via Macao tourism mascot Mak Mak among other initiatives.

On the eve of the BTL opening, MGTO will launch a video mapping show in Praça do Comércio, Lisbon’s major plaza, to be presented each evening from March 12^th to 16^th celebrating Macao’s strong links with Portugal and this year’s two special anniversaries. In addition, in collaboration with the Cultural Affairs Bureau, works by several Macao artists will be hung in the Macao Economic and Trade Office in Lisbon, while four street dance groups from Macao will perform in several popular streets in the heart of Lisbon.

A Macao group bringing its unique Poetic Kung Fu will also perform in the capital as part of various promotional activities, while in Porto a special Macao arts exhibition will open on 15^th March in the City Hall gallery of Portugal’s second largest city, highlighted by a powerful dragon dance performance.