Macau Tourism Industry Development Master Plan

Macau Tourism Master plan was presented on the 23 May 2016 and will undergo a public consultation until the 22 of July 2016.

The Macau Tourism Master Plan is a 45 page document that does a good job in summarizing all aspects related to Macau tourism including research on source markets, tourism products, technology, transportation issues, regional cooperation, quality of service and other areas.

Even though this is the 1st Master plan and some public consultations will take place gathering opinions and suggestions, adding more value to the document,  I think some of the topics could have been explored more in depth , with more practical examples before public consultation.

I hope that the final Master plan ,that will presented in mid-2017, will be much more detailed on the practical examples and actions.

For those who haven’t read the document here is a brief summary of the 4 main Goals and associated strategies.

" GOAL 1 – MANAGE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE GROWTH OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY

Strategy 1: Encourage Resident Engagement and Involvement in the Development of the Tourism Industry

• Continue with in-depth development of the Macao Awareness Campaign.
• Encourage local associations to organize community culture, history and other tourism related events.
• Strengthen communications among tourism related government departments, tourism industries and residents.

Strategy 2: Manage Tourism Development and Increase Overall     capacity to Receive Visitors

• Evaluate the various impacts on society and residents under different visitor growth scenarios.
• Upgrade the amenities of all cross border facilities, supporting facilities of tourist hotspots (including transport, public space and shopping areas) and other visitor spaces through coordinated urban planning.

Strategy 3: Improve Environmental Standards of the Tourism Industry

• Further promote the Green Hotel Award and development of green hotels.
• Study upgrading hotel architectural codes and guidelines to ensure environmental protection with related departments, promoting green buildings.
• Raise environmental standards for vehicles in the tourism industry.

Strategy 4: Regional Seamless Transportation

• Explore the possibility of connecting HKIA to Macao via the new infrastructural opportunity of HKZM Bridge between the two cities.
• Connect the Pearl River Delta and other Mainland Chinese cities through high speed railway networks.
• Further enhance the connection between Hong Kong, Macao and Zhuhai airports.
• Improve convenience for visitors travelling on railways through easy ticketing and customs clearance by coordinating with related departments in Mainland China.

GOAL 2 : DIVERSIFY TOURISM PRODUCTS

Strategy 1: Developing Iconic Tourism Products

• Renovation of the Grand Prix Museum, hosting of the International Film Festival, creation of the Gourmet Capital, and optimization of the Macao Light Show.
• Strengthening partnerships between local communities and  private sector: identifying new elements of community tourism, discovering new products that GOAL 2 : DIVERSIFY TOURISM PRODUCTS fit with the character of the area and seek a suitable market positioning, in order to create a new tourism image for the city.
• Continual hosting of cultural performances at tourist attractions, showcasing the authentic landscape of Macao.
• Establish a continual roll out of various interesting activities such as Dining in the Sky, Dining on the Sea or other city/ rural adventures.
• Investigate the possibility of hosting international sports events with regional cities. This will utilize Macao’s existing sports facilities and venues, and in turn promote sports tourism.
• Encourage and support the construction of international theme park in Macao.

 Strategy 2: Creating New Waterfront Areas

• By utilizing the ship-building industrial heritage and the stilt houses, the Coloane Lychee Bowl area can be rejuvenated into a leisure waterfront, opening waterfront spaces to residents and visitors alike to enjoy and relax.
• Transform the Inner Harbor Area into a vibrant waterfront with retail, alfresco dining and a commercial waterfront district.
• Develop the southern part of New Town Area A into a cultural waterfront corridor, with an iconic landmark structure being the future gateway of Macao
• New Town Area B will have institutions, green belt waterfront, as well as exhibition venues and related facilities

Strategy 3: Introducing Marine Tourism Products

• Utilizing marine sightseeing resources to launch a tourism route on the sea, using marine tourism activities.
• Expand the development of yachting tourism, promoting the “free and easy yacht travel” with different Mainland Chinese cities.
• Further develop water sports such as dragon boat, sailing, kayaking, canoeing and other water sports.
• Cooperate with nearby cities in the area to develop island tours.

 GOAL 3: ATTRACT HIGH VALUE VISITOR MARKET

Strategy 1: Developing Macao into a Multi-Day Destination

• Encourage longer stays in Macao by offering rich experiences.
• With the total MICE space in Macao expanding to 210,000 square meters by 2020, large scale venues can leverage opportunities.
• Utilize information technology, cooperating with local partners to create innovative travel itineraries.
• Utilize new tourism products and plans, jointly cooperating with international and Asian strategic partners to develop tourism markets and promote Macao as a multi-day destination. 

Strategy 2: Continuing the Development of High-Potential Target Segments

• Young Adult segment: Tapping on the development of the local cultural creative industries, these cultural creative zones result in young adults wanting to familiarize themselves with and explore Macao.
• invitation of overseas famous bloggers and writers to participate in local events and write relevant stories will be an effective promotional strategy for this target segment.
• Silver Hair segment: Seeing the development of the Guangdong – Macao Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Industrial Park (GMTCM Park) as an opportunity, Macao will be developed into a health and wellness tourism destination
• Affluent segment: Inviting world famous performances and shows to Macao, together with the opening of world famous high-end restaurants in the city can attract high value visitors to Macao to enjoy the different world-class facilities
• Family segment: The introduction of different new tourism products, such as marine tourism, sports, ecological, entertainment and theme park facilities will help attract family visitors from Asia
• Young Adult segment: Organize competitions and exhibitions relating to Macao,
• Silver Hair segment: Work with famous health and wellness tourism destinations in Asia in formulating development strategies.
• Affluent segment: Upgrade infrastructure facilities and service quality, such as increasing the number of parking spaces
• Family segment: Attract more family visitors through family oriented facilities 

Strategy 3: Developing Smart Tourism Through Innovative Technology

• A well-integrated website and mobile application can provide visitors with events, accommodation, reservations and other information at the trip planning stage.
• As part of the establishment of Smart Tourism, effective and efficient city-wide WiFi coverage allows greater convenience for visitors.
• To accommodate the development of the Big Data Plan of the Macao SAR Government, the collection and analysis of visitor behavior information will be used to develop a livable and convenient Smart City
• Beyond the provision of convenience through smart tourism to visitors within Macao, smart tourism services can be co-developed with strategic partners at the regional and international level, which will improve the overall competitiveness of the city.

Strategy 4: Jointly Developing Strategic Tourism Products with Nearby Cities

• Using Macau World Heritage and unique landscape to form strategic partnerships with nearby cities to promote regional tourism development.
• With Macao’s unique culture and rapid development of the creative industries, strategic partnerships can be extended to other international tourism destinations. 

GOAL 4: IMPROVE TOURISM QUALITY 

Strategy1: Maintaining Continual Skills Training

• Support career planning and skills development with convenient learning tools, and also improve foreign language skills of residents engaged in the tourism industry
• Explore the possibility of international development training programs amongst world famous tourism destinations.

Strategy 2: Establishing an Integrated Tourism Quality System

• Consolidation of the requirements and standards of tourism related industries
• Work with the industry and different government departments to jointly establish an integrated quality system.

Strategy 3: Elevating Tourism Service Quality to Align with International Standards

• For the continuous promotion of Quality Tourism, the current Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme (QTSAS) launched by Macao Government Tourism Office will extend across various aspects of the industry, allowing more diverse local trade to benefit from the Scheme.
• Broaden and intensify the content of different training programs, including regular communication with the tourism industry, local and overseas training institutions, to understand the latest industry updates and training trends."