Macao Grand Prix Museum proves to be highly popular during trial opening

The Macao Grand Prix Museum opened to the public on 2 April, proving popular among residents and visitors, who can enjoy the exhibits and interactive multimedia presentations about the historic Macau Grand Prix.

Demand for tickets to the Museum was strong in the first month of its trial operations. Tickets available for pre-booking sold fast for visits on weekends and holidays during April. This month, the quotas available to visit the Museum have increased to daily (except Tuesdays), with tickets already sold out for some days of May.

MGTO is collecting opinions from the public and invited groups during the two months of trial operations, with the aim to optimise the Museum management and visitor’s experience in preparation for its official launch.

The Museum, under the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), is now about six times its previous size, with a floor area of about 16,000 square metres spread across four floors. 

The exhibits offer visitors a window into the Macau Grand Prix (MGP), boosting not only the “tourism + sports” synergy in destination branding, but also help communicate and preserve the motorsport culture that is part of this iconic event. 

Interactive multimedia games and the Guia Circuit racing related displays, including winning cars of past editions or a deconstructed motorcycle, immerse visitors in an educational and fun experience. The Museum offers a diversity of exhibits throughout its four floors, taking visitors through the nearly seven decades of racing history of the MGP, from its early editions to Formula 3 racing, the Macau GT Cup and Guia Race, along with the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix, and more. 

Visitors can also find “Ayrton Senna”, an artwork created by Portuguese graffiti artist Alexandre Farto, also known as Vhils. The artist crafted this wall portrait of Ayrton Senna da Silva as a tribute to the Brazilian racing driver’s historic victory in the first edition of Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix in 1983.

Creative partnerships

The Museum is now equipped with facilities and displays that take visitors’ experience to the next level. MGTO plans to enrich the activity calendar at the Museum with public guided tours, special exhibitions, workshops and other attractions to promote interaction with schools and community organisations.

An example is the collaboration between the Museum and the University of Saint Joseph. The local college created a tactile, barrier-free exhibit zone about formula racing cars. The 3D representation of a racing car, with an introduction in braille, enrich the experience of a Museum visit for visually-impaired visitors.

To foster “tourism + culture and creativity” synergy, the Museum also offers an opportunity for local cultural and creative talents to showcase their creativity by designing and producing tailor-made souvenirs to be sold at the Museum’s store.

Featured in the basement, the work “Racing Fight”, designed and drawn specially for the Museum by local creative artist Chan Man, brings to life a series of past GT racing cars, darting across the Macau Grand Prix circuit.

In May, the Museum is open to the public every day, excluding Tuesdays. A limited number of tickets are available at the MGTO online ticketing system, eticket.macaotourism.gov.mo, and they may be purchased in advance, on first-come, first-served basis, for either a session in the morning, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., or afternoon, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The Museum provides daily guided tours. Visitors are welcome to sign up on site for the guided tours, which are conducted in their preferred language at designated time slots.

For further enquiries, please contact the Macao Grand Prix Museum at (853) 8593 0515 or (853) 8593 0516 during opening hours. For the latest information, please visit the Macao Grand Prix Museum’s official website: mgpm.macaotourism.gov.mo.