The government will roll out a number of route and frequency optimisation measures on Saturday to further enhance the service quality and community-linkage benefits of its “Tourism and Leisure Bus”, according to a joint statement by the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT), and the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) on Monday.
As the current bus route primarily operates one way from Cotai to the Macau Peninsula, and in order to extend the service to tourists staying on the peninsula, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau has worked with the city’s six integrated resort operators to adjust the bus route to a two-way operation model. The statement added that a new “Macau Peninsula to Cotai” route will be introduced, with additional community drop-off points along the route, to enhance the overall effectiveness of the project.
Meanwhile, the Zape bus route, originally operating only during the Labour Day Golden Week holiday, will be extended to a regular weekend service, thereby strengthening the linkage effect between community activities and local communities, the statement said.
To expand daytime sightseeing traffic to the Rua dos Ervanários (關前街) area around Hong Kung Temple and nearby community attractions, and to promote “distinctive” local shops and creative stores, following public feedback, the first departure time of the bus on the Hong Kung Temple route will be moved from weekend evenings to afternoons.
In addition, MGTO is expanding its promotional coverage through a diverse range of channels to comprehensively enhance the visitor experience. It plans to launch special programmes on television and streaming platforms, continue filming short videos for each route, and produce travel guides that integrate community attractions and merchants – aiming to promote the community sightseeing experience.
Separately, the Economic and Technological Development Bureau is continuously updating its “Tourism and Leisure Bus” mobile information webpage. This includes offering promotional deals and adding a dedicated column on the webpage for exclusive offers, with the aim of enriching travel information for each shuttle bus route and for the surrounding communities.
The statement said that, as of the end of last month, nearly 10,000 passenger trips had been recorded at various bus stops, successfully channelling visitors into Macau’s various “distinctive” communities. It added that the mobile information webpage had recorded more than 14,000 clicks from visitors seeking activity information.
Meanwhile, several public entities have released a total of 11 promotional videos and 164 posts across a range of channels and popular social media platforms, with cumulative views exceeding 7.48 million, the statement added.
This photo taken in April shows one of the “Tourism and Leisure Bus” programme’s 24-seat buses parked near Hong Kung Temple in the Inner Harbour area. – Photo: Armindo Neves
