During the pandemic, Macau closely followed mainland China’s policy, and only allowed quarantine-free travel to the mainland, which is a challenge that cannot be ignored for the development of Macau’s tourism industry and even the daily operation of the city. Some observers, however, believe that following to the mainland’s pandemic prevention regulations is the only viable choice. With the timely relaxation of clearance policies between Macau and the Mainland as well as Hong Kong, the number of tourists visiting Macau has increased significantly, which also requires the local governments to focus on the current situation and adjust tourism-related marketing and promotion strategies in a timely manner.
As early as early 2008, Macau has vigorously developed the non-gaming industry by virtue of its positioning as a “World Centre of Tourism and Leisure”. In the latest casino license bidding, casino operators have also pledged to invest over 90 per cent on non-gambling projects in their resorts. Some observers said the real problem is not about the infrastructure and facilities, but how the city promotes itself to tourists. On this issue, Prof. Glenn McCartney, Associate Professor of the Department of Integrated Resort and Tourism Management was interviewed by the South China Morning Post.
“It’s not hard to notice that we have numerous world-class tourism products when you walk through the Cotai Strip. But really, in the world of marketing, we don’t present the product, we present a solution to the visitor in terms of what they want.” Prof. Glenn cited the MICE industry as an example of how Macau can further develop it, saying that while there is great competition in this field from neighboring regions such as Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and even Singapore, it is an effective way to attract potential tourists by providing solutions to showcase the entire process of supporting services such as MICE, dining and accommodation, shopping and leisure that Macau can provide.
Sources for news and photo: South China Morning Post
