Last year, Taiwan visitor numbers grew by 2%; Macao Tourism Board continues to promote "Multi-Destination Trips"

Reporter Yu t
ru / Taipei reporting

Macao boasts exciting and diverse festivals and events all year round. Under the promotional theme “Experience Macao – The Moment of Emotion,” the Macao Tourism Board has added the “Joyful Moments” sub-theme, hoping to further reinforce Macao’s image as the “City of Events.” Macao Tourism Board Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes stated that Taiwan is Macao’s third-largest source market, and the number of Taiwanese visitors staying overnight in Macao has continued to grow annually. In 2013, the number of Taiwanese visitors staying overnight in Macao grew by nearly 2%, with the number of those staying in hotels increasing by 6.4%.


▲ The iconic Old Ladies’ House on Rua da Felicidade’s Fan Tong Hong Lane, a famous Macao heritage site. (Photo / Reporter Yu t
ru)

According to data from Macao’s Statistics and Census Service, the number of Taiwanese visitors staying overnight in Macao in 2013 was 422,741, an increase of 2 percentage points compared to 2012. The number of Taiwanese guests staying in hotels was 385,827, up 6.4% from the previous year, with 73.9% of them choosing five-star hotels. The average length of stay was 1.7 nights. Additionally, the latest provisional figures show that in January 2014, the number of Taiwanese overnight visitors to Macao continued to grow, increasing by 9.7% compared to the same period last year.

This year, the Macao Tourism Board will focus on five key initiatives aimed at extending visitors’ length of stay and enriching the tourism experience in Macao. These include optimizing the overall tourism environment, improving service quality, expanding diverse tourism products, building a distinctive tourism image, and engaging in international and regional cooperation to enhance media and public communication. Regarding community-based tourism planning, the “Neighborhood Treasures” program was launched in 2013, introducing four community tour routes paired with street cultural performances to interact with visitors, enrich the itinerary, and highlight the cultural characteristics of Macao’s neighborhoods. It is expected that more distinctive cultural performances will be introduced this year.

Continuing with its strategic positioning to develop Macao into a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure, the Macao Tourism Board maintains “Experience Macao – The Moment of Emotion” as its core promotional message, promoting a diverse range of tourism products to offer each visitor a unique and exclusive Macao experience. This year, more airlines are expected to offer flights between Macao and Taiwan. In the Taiwanese market, the Board will strengthen collaboration with airlines, travel agencies, and other industry partners to develop various package tours and recommended itineraries—including cultural tourism, festival tourism, and shopping tourism—targeted at “family travelers,” “office workers,” “career women,” “newlyweds,” and “seniors,” ensuring everyone can enjoy a fulfilling trip.

As the tourism hub of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao region, Macao will continue to expand and deepen cooperation with surrounding tourism areas this year, further promoting “Multi-Destination Trip” packages. In response to the opening of Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Hengqin, a new “Macao–Hengqin Route” has been added, giving visitors a new dual-city option beyond Hong Kong and Macao, and a more diverse travel experience.