The city’s annual International Fireworks Display Contest, which has been suspended since 2020, will finally be resumed this year, Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said yesterday.

She told reporters that the five nights of pyrotechnic displays featuring 10 competitors from places such as the mainland, Japan and Portugal have been initially scheduled to be held every Saturday and on National Day from mid-September to October 7.

Senna Fernandes made the remarks on the sidelines of an exchange conference between the mainland and Macau’s travel agencies at Studio City in Cotai.

In view of the fact that this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on September 29, is close to National Day on October 1, no firework displays will be staged on the Mid-Autumn Festival, Senna Fernandes said, adding that major preparations are needed for a firework display.

According to Senna Fernandes, the firework displays will be resumed with related activities such as the annual Macau Firework Fiesta, the budget of which was expected to be similar to the past. She did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, Senna Fernandes pointed out that Macau’s daily number of visitor arrivals has dropped “slightly” with the end of the mainland’s Labour Day “Golden Week”, which ran from April 29 to May 8. However, she stressed that the daily average of visitor arrivals still stands at at least 50,000.

Recently, Senna Fernandes added, the daily number of visitor arrivals has “steadily” risen to 60,000, and even to 70,000 or 80,000 at weekends.

With the gradual recovery of international aviation, Senna Fernandes reaffirmed that her office will try its best to attract more foreign tourists to visit Macau in the summertime. She revealed that features such as alcoholic beverage promotions will be added to the upcoming Macau International Travel (Industry) Expo (MITE) that will take place on June 30.

46 mainland tourism professionals join exchange conference

Meanwhile, the mainland and Macau tourism industry exchange conference, co-organised by MGTO and Air Macau, took place yesterday, with 46 mainland tourism professionals having been invited from various cities in the mainland that have direct flights to Macau, such as Hebei province, for a four-day familiarisation visit to Macau.

The one-day conference aimed at enabling the mainland’s tour operators to learn more about Macau’s tourist advantages and the diversity of “tourism+” projects, among others, promoting the design of more tourism products to visit both Macau and Hengqin, and the continuous exploration of new markets.

Senna Fernandes underlined in the conference’s opening speech that the mainland is Macau’s biggest visitor market and that MGTO is “committed” to expanding the source of mainland tourists and accelerating the recovery of Macau’s tourism industry through both online and offline” publicity, adding that in terms of face-to-face promotions, the “Macao Weeks” will resume in June, with the first stop being Qingdao city in Shandong province.

During the conference, officials from MGTO and the Economic Development Bureau (ECD) in the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin presented, respectively, the current situation and the advantages of tourism development in the adjacent places.

MGTO to develop tours to Zhuhai’s islands: MGTO vice-director

Meanwhile, talking about his recent visit to Dongao, Guishan and Wailingding islands in Zhuhai with representatives from Macau’s tourism industry, MGTO Deputy Director Cheng Wai Tong told reporters on the sidelines of yesterday’s conference that the tourism resources and products of the three islands are “mature”, adding that both the local and Zhuhai governments are trying to open direct ferry routes between Macau and Guishan Island, which is one of the nation’s first-class passenger and freight ports.

When conditions are met, tour routes to the three islands will be developed to increase Macau’s tourist attractions, according to Cheng, who pointed out that the local tourism sector is interested in the relevant tourism products there.

Zhuhai boasts 146 islands. 

The Macau Government Tourism Office’s (MGTO) Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes (first row, fifth from left) and Deputy Director Cheng Wai Tong (fourth from left) attend yesterday’s exchange conference between mainland and local travel operators at Studio City in Cotai. – Photo: Yuki Lei