The 9th Macao International Travel (Industry) Expo is part of an effort to revitalize the local tourism industry, Lei Wai Nong said today (Friday) at the expo opening ceremony.

The export, which will take place at The Venetian until July 11th, will for the second time in a row mainly include local tourism agencies and companies from mainland China, as pandemic restrictions still severely limit travel options overseas.

“Since Macau is an international tourist city, the epidemic outbreak has had a major impact on the tourism industry. The Macau SAR government has endeavored to promote the recreation and development of tourism by traveling to the cities of Beijing, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Shanghai to hold “Macau Weeks” with the aim of promoting Macau’s image as to spread safe city and visit appropriately, “said Secretary Lei Wai Nong in his opening address.

“On the other hand, the Macau Government Tourism Bureau (MGTO) introduced local tours and hotel stays in the city last year and this year, and the local tourism industry has also introduced select tourist routes for the city’s visitor market to make them feel like. a new tourism experience in Macau ”.

After a number of local cases were reported in Guangdong since May 21, the validity period for a negative nucleic acid test has been shortened, but since no areas in the province are considered particularly at risk, cross-border travel measures are being relaxed.

Macau’s gaming revenue in June declined 37 percent month on month from May 2021 as visitor numbers plummeted with no deadline in sight for a possible resumption of normal travel to Hong Kong.

Still, MGTO director Helena de Senna Fernandes recently said that the average nightly hotel occupancy in Macau could gradually recover to as high as 80 percent during the summer vacation months of July and August.

According to Lei, the tourism fair could support tour operators in intensifying the exchange with partners from abroad, strengthening connections, jointly exploring opportunities for cooperation and developing new tourism products, as well as preparing for the future recovery of the international tourism market.

The exhibition occupies an area of ​​around 23,000 square meters with around 710 stands, with a total of 394 exhibitors, of which 106 are local exhibitors, 265 exhibitors from mainland China and 23 international exhibitors present themselves mainly online.

This year’s MITE updated the integrated online and face-to-face formats introduced last year and added additional “in the cloud” initiatives, including “Cloud Promotions”, “Cloud Live Streams”, “Cloud Contact Scholarships” and “Cloud Contract Signing” with the The aim is to help the economic sector in Macau and other parts of the world increase advertising and sales, promote exchanges and connections, and expand collaboration and business opportunities.

Also held today was an opening ceremony for MGTO’s official flagship store in the Ctrip app and a workshop on the e-commerce platform skills offered by Trip.com.

The event also included an “Incubation Plan for Macau’s KOL in Tourism,” co-organized by the Macau Live Streaming Association to encourage Macau residents to use social media to promote the city’s image as a travel destination, with mainland and local KOLs also conduct live promotional streams carrying for local products and tourist offers.

The Secretary of the Party Committee and Level 1 Inspector of the International Exchange and Cooperation Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the PRC, Man Hongwei, also said in the opening that in the context of the recovery from the pandemic, the cultural and tourist government services of mainland China are being provided and Macau have intensified exchanges and cooperation by actively planning and taking the initiative to organize a range of online and offline promotional activities to promote the gradual recovery of the tourism market between the two sides and regain consumer confidence.

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