Tourism officials in Macau are giving their long-term plan for the development of the SAR’s tourism industry another look in light of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) commissioned consultancy firm Deloitte at the end of 2020 to examine the implementation progress of the Macao Tourism Industry Development Master Plan for the next 10 years.
The Master Plan was first considered in 2015 to map out the direction for the future development of Macau’s tourism industry until 2030. It was announced in 2017 with a review report.
According to the Deloitte report, by 2025 the SAR should have recovered to an annual visitor total of 36 million to 41 million. The volume of non-gaming spending should also recover to pre-pandemic levels, some MOP64 billion by 2025, with the city’s hotel room number growing from the current 41,884 rooms to a number as high as 53,800, the report said.
Prior to the pandemic, the SAR reported 40 million visitors in 2019 with that number dropping sharply to 5.8 million in 2020. The review report noted that the pandemic ‘offers an opportunity for Macau to optimize its tourism industry structure” with diversification from the gaming business.
The report also noted challenges to tourism development that include inadequate support facility infrastructure, a lack of human resource talent development, and insufficient urban planning.
“Macau needs to reinforce its regional integration and collaboration,” the report said. “Due to the differences in the regional legal systems, the tourism authorities of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau are currently formulating the regulatory mechanism according to their own laws, and the professional qualification and practicing policies for tourism in the Greater Bay Area still require further development.”
