Just before the start of London’s International Gaming Expo (IGE) on 27 January, the arrival of the new moon will herald the Chinese Lunar New Year. The A-Mar Temple in Macau will host the first dedication to the Lunar New Year on 25 January and at 11 pm the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) is sponsoring a fireworks display on the waterfront near Macau Tower. Macau is apparently one of the few places in Asia where firecrackers are still permitted.

Tourists from the Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan were the most numerous in Macau last year and many are expected to travel there later this month to join in the New Year celebrations. A dragon parade and lion dance will wend its way around Macau and there are other traditional events organised for the Spring Festival. The Year of the Ox is said to be the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work – useful attributes in a year that promises to be challenging for many.

Today MGTO Director João Manuel Costa Antunes announced that the city welcomed a record-breaking number of visitors in 2008, up 11% to 30.2 million. The MGTO Annual Press Conference was held at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Center. The Director reviewed the tourism achievement of Macau in 2008 and outlined this year's tourism development strategies to nearly 500 attendants including MGTO representatives around the world, travel industry partners and 150 international and local media.

The top ten visitor generating markets are mainly from Asia. Southeast and Northeast Asia showed exceptionally strong performance, with arrivals growing 81 % for Thailand, 41% for Singapore, 30% for the Philippines, 24% for South Korea, 23% for Japan and 12% for Malaysia, showing a healthy progress towards diversification of source markets. Visitor numbers in 2009 are likely to be more static, or even decline, unless China rethinks its present visa restrictions.

The MGTO said that diversification of tourism products and source markets are the main objectives for this year and it will utilize tourism resources to enhance the development of cultural tourism. Various thematic tour routes will be developed to attract visitors of different interests, while multi-destination tourism itineraries will be explored to build up a regional tourism brand. This year, MGTO will further expand its marketing influence by adding a representative office in Indonesia to tap this potential market, while continuing to venture into forthcoming markets such as Vietnam, Eastern Europe, especially Russia, and the Middle East for a more diversified market portfolio.

Antunes also expressed the opinion that it is difficult to anticipate the impact the financial crisis will have on Macau's tourism industry at the moment and, instead of being pessimistic, it is more important to be ready and work closely with the travel trade to grab every possible chance to turn challenges into opportunities. Regarding diversification, he emphasized Macau's World Heritage is a crucial element in proceeding towards diversification. MGTO hopes that through cooperating with travel trade partners, both locally and in source markets, quality heritage tours and tourism products will be launched for visitors to enjoy at reasonable prices. (E-01.14.09)

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