MGTO Representatives

Note: All information is correct at the time of release.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 episode, the June and July 2020 issues of Macao Travel Talk have been combined into a single Jun-Jul 2020 issue.

Important Events

New MGTO video to celebrate Sustainable Gastronomy Day captures the heritage and art of Macanese cuisine

Elements of Macao’s food culture, recipes and culinary arts have been captured in a new video to mark Sustainable Gastronomy Day

A new video sharing Macao’s unique gastronomic culture has been released to help promote Sustainable Gastronomy Day on 18 June. The video is part of the city’s endeavours to foster the preservation of gastronomic culture as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.

The video has been produced by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) as a contribution towards the sustainable development of the tourism industry and to the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

MGTO has partnered with Foodie Platform, a promoter of Macao gastronomy, to showcase the culinary traditions and some recipes of Macanese cuisine in the video. It shows two Macanese chefs and one other Macao chef demonstrating local cooking techniques to prepare two main courses and one dessert.

The video is available at the MGTO website, the Macao gastronomy website at www.gastronomy.gov.mo, and on social media including Facebook, WeChat and YouTube. It was also shown on LED screens at MGTO tourist information counters on the Sustainably Gastronomy Day.

Macanese gastronomy has been part of the List of Macao’s Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2012. Macao has a unique food culture based on cooking methods used in Portuguese cuisine; it also integrates ingredients and cooking methods found in Africa, India and Malaysia; and incorporates traditions from Chinese communities. Combining the merits of each cuisine, Macanese gastronomy has developed into a unique, independent food culture across several hundred years.

Part of Macao’s four-year action plan as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy sees the Macao SAR Government working to establish a database of Macanese cuisine that will track the cuisine’s history, its recipes and culinary arts. The initiative to document the cuisine’s heritage is an education-based effort that will carry forward the culture and traditions of a gastronomy with a history of more than 400 years.

By collaborating with the community and other interested groups, MGTO will complete the data collection and processing ahead of the launch of the database by the end of 2020. It also plans to launch a Macanese cuisine promotion area.

Macao was designated a member city of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the field of Gastronomy on 31 October 2017 and started its international promotion of Sustainable Gastronomy Day one year later.

The United Nations’ General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2016 to designate 18 June as Sustainable Gastronomy Day. The decision acknowledges gastronomy as an expression related to natural and cultural diversity. For details, visit the United Nations website at https://www.un.org/en/observances/sustainable-gastronomy-day.