With the gradual recovery of the tourism industry, the number of people who take the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as their tourist destination continues to grow. However, there is still a gap in the tourism market share between cities. For example, the number of tourists received by Hong Kong is smaller than that of Macau and Shenzhen. Associate Professor Glenn McCartney, the Department of Integrated Resort and Tourism Management, Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau, was interviewed by Radio Television Hong Kong’s “Backchat” on this topic.
Associate Professor Glenn McCartney stated that Macau is also facing the problem of insufficient development of the tourism market. The key to solving the problem is to think about how to let tourists “Stay longer and spend more”. Although the development of Macao’s tourism industry is becoming more and more diversified, such as integrated resorts, gaming, conventions and exhibitions, food, retail, etc., companies need to do a whole product mix, which requires cooperation and coordination between various sectors to meet the diverse needs of tourists and give reasons for people to “Spend more”.
Regarding one of the important factor of tourists’ willingness to buy—price, Prof. Glenn McCartney mentioned that sometimes price reduction is not a necessary way. Tourists are willing to pay more in order to have a certain experience if they think it’s worthwhile. But the problem is that many travel suppliers cannot deliver the travel experience that tourists expect. This is not only a problem faced by Hong Kong, but also in the tourism destinations all over the world.
Prof. Glenn McCartney also pointed that the main reason why Macau’s tourism industry can usher in a major recovery after the epidemic is that the Macau government is still actively attracting investment during the epidemic, improving tourism facilities, and constantly rejuvenating new product in the tourism industry, such as the Londoners came on board during the COVID 19 restrictions. The number of visitors to Macao in the first half of this year has reached 15 million. This is the result of the joint efforts of the government, enterprises and all sectors of society. This is also a reference for the development of Great Bay Area’s tourism industry.
