JOÃO MANUEL COSTA ANTUNES Director of Macau Government Tourist Office

Small is beautiful, says Joao Manuel Costa Antunes, director of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), who says that this tiny region has something for both its visitors from the East and those from the West. “For Chinese visitors, Macau offers those who are unable to travel to Europe the opportunity to experience some of the European environment, the flavors of its restaurants and its culture. For long-haul tourists from the U.S. or Europe, we offer a mixed culture that is integrated with the Chinese culture,” he explains. The role of gateway between the East and the West is nothing new for Macau. Portuguese traders began settling in the region at the end of the 16th century and were followed by Jesuit missionaries, who used Macau as a base for their travels to China and Japan. Their influence lingers today in Macau’s numerous palatial churches, cobbled streets, leafy squares and colonial architecture, and the region’s Mediterranean culture sets it apart from neighboring destinations. Visitors are greeted with a delightful mix of cultural influences where Portuguese cafés and dim sum houses blend seamlessly, and baroque Catholic churches tower over ancient Taoist and Buddhist temples.

A tiny enclave 35 miles west of Hong Kong across the Pearl River Delta, Macau was handed over to the Chinese by the Portuguese in 1999 and, like Hong Kong, benefits from the ‘one country two systems’ policy that allows the Special Administrative Region (SAR) a degree of political and economic autonomy for 50 years. Comprised of a peninsula in China’s Guangdong province and the two islands of Taipa and Coloane, an area of roughly 10 square miles, Macau has used reclaimed land from the bay of Praia Grande in recent years to construct a new exhibition center and one of Asia’s tallest towers. Off the island of Taipa, the government used reclaimed land to build the Macau International Airport, and similar efforts have been shaping the region’s future since the handover. New infrastructure on reclaimed land, and hence a number of new attractions, have contributed to a boom in the tourism sector and have drawn new investors from abroad.

Visitor numbers in Macau have more than doubled in the last five years. According to Mr. Costa Antunes, the growth is attributable to both the efforts of the SAR government in opening up the region to development and to the cooperation of the central Chinese government in granting visitor visas for Chinese tourists from the mainland, who now represent nearly 60% of Macau’s annual total, or more than 9 million people. He comments, “Much of what has happened has been because of the central government. They want to open up the country. Before, there were only four travel agencies operating in China to promote Macau, and now there are hundreds. Also, the individual traveler visa policy has been developing bit by bit, and the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) has been a real advance.” The mainland and Macau CEPA came into effect in 2004. In addition to greater freedom for Chinese tourists to visit Macau, the agreement allows greater flexibility for Macau businesses that wish to operate in mainland China, reducing tariffs on imports and increasing liberalization in a variety of sectors.

The Macau government is intent on continuing to build its infrastructure and expand its tourism offer for families, as well as building its reputation as an international convention center par excellence, in an attempt to extend the visitor stays from its current average of one day. The tourist office, MGTO, is working to make this vision a reality, and in the process will continue to make the conservation of Macau’s unique heritage a top priority, according to Mr. Costa Antunes. He says, “We have 450 years of history, and this must be a focal point in new development. If we want to keep our heritage, we must develop it, and there is a lot of room to do this in Macau.”