Continuing with its recent efforts to promote Macau to the world – and particularly Southeast Asia – the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) last week welcomed 19 Indonesian travel trade members to experience the city’s tourism offerings. It will also take part in the ASTINDO Travel Fair in Jakarta on 31 August, where it will set up a booth.
Based on visitor arrival figures for the first six months of 2023, Indonesia ranked fifth among Macau’s top 10 source markets and second among international sources, with a total of 58,110 Indonesian visitors during the period.
The Indonesian travel trade members spent five days in Macau, in which time they visited the Macau Grand Prix Museum, experienced a sightseeing bus tour, visited Macau’s integrated resort facilities and tasted various cuisines.
The delegation also held an exchange meeting with representatives of Macau’s tourism industry, including the concessionaires, to learn more about each other’s tourism resources, products and industry information, and to explore further business opportunities for cooperation.
MGTO pointed out that Indonesia is the second largest source of international tourists. With the gradual increase of direct flights between Macau and Southeast Asia, MGTO continues to explore various source markets in Southeast Asia.
Pre-COVID, Indonesia accounted for just 0.4% of all arrivals into Macau with 169,957, ranking ninth in terms of global source markets. That figure has edged up to 0.5% in 2023 due to a decrease in arrivals from Japan and Malaysia.
Aside from taking part in this month’s ASTINDO Travel Fair, the MGTO said it recently traveled to Malaysia for the MITM Travel Fair in Kuala Lumpur from 28 to 30 July, organized by the Association of Chinese Travel Agents.
The MGTO recently hosted a travel trade group from Japan and has held tourism showcases in Portugal, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and mainland China.