Backing off tobacco ban?
The Macau government, which has promised in recent weeks to step in to help the city’s struggling casino industry, told the Macau Business Daily those fixes could include a reevaluation of the total smoking ban, and making more resources available for would-be visitors. He also said the city could “build more museums, or themed-buildings to attract more tourists to stay in Macau for longer days.”
The city is currently in its 16th straight month of decline, and its tourist numbers have dropped for the first eight months of the year, the Business Daily reported. Tam says prolonging the length of tourism visits is key to growing the economy.
“A recent survey by the Institute for Tourism Studies indicates that we still have the capacity to receive a similar number of tourists like last year, which was 31.5 million,” Tam said. “As such, we can receive around 89,000 to 120,000 tourists on average per day so we still have the margin to receive more tourists.” He said a steadier stream of tourists, rather than a flood of visitors during holidays, would be a welcome change for Macanese residents, who have complained about traffic tie-ups and compromised quality of life during peak travel times.
“Macau will never be like other places, like Las Vegas,” Tam said. “Macau is so close to China that it is convenient to reach every other place… Meanwhile, the cost here is high, so that tourists, especially those from China, may choose our neighboring cities like Zhuhai or Hengqin … One of our objectives is to attract more long-haul tourists as we want people to stay here longer.”
He also said the central government is discussing “offering annual leave like the Europeans have. I do think this is a good idea. However, China is huge. In order to implement this kind of policy, they need to study it.”
Tam said he will discuss the options further during an upcoming address before the legislature. “We will need to create conditions instead of bringing more difficulties to Macau society,” he noted. “Perhaps in the next five or six years, we can receive more tourists when we have the light rail transit ready and have a better transportation system.”
As for the hotly debated smoking ban, he said, “The industry and the operators said it is possible to create a very good smoking lounge. We don’t know. It will be depend upon the conditions. If they really have good proposals, if the workers agree with it, it will be fine.”
