Macau is deepening its focus on the Muslim traveller as part of its “1+4” development strategy to diversify and integrate tourism and other related industries, including culture and creativity, sports, MICE, gastronomy and health and wellness.
The goal is to be a centre for integrated tourism and leisure, while facilitating the development of four nascent industries – big health, modern financial services, high and new technology, as well as conventions and exhibitions.
Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) director, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, said government and local tourism stakeholders attach great value to the potential of Muslim tourism (domestic and international), and steps have been taken to prepare and cater for an expected increase of Islamic visitors.
According to MGTO data, Indonesia and Malaysia already rank among Macau’s top international visitor source markets and ranked third and fourth respectively as of April.
Fernandes noted: “The perspective is for arrivals to continue to increase as direct flights and targeted promotional activities expand. Last November, direct flights between Macau and Jakarta were launched, while the frequency of flights to Kuala Lumpur will increase in July.
“At the same time, MGTO is conducting promotions targeting consumers and travel trade in these two markets, with the latest large-scale (promotion) conducted in May in Jakarta, and another one scheduled for July in Kuala Lumpur.”
The director remarked that Muslim visitors are expected to continue to increase from other places as well, including from Macau’s main visitor source market of Mainland China.
She elaborated: “Measures announced recently by the Central Government expanded the number of cities under the Individual Visit Scheme to travel to Hong Kong and Macau, with the list now also including the provincial capitals of Ürümqi (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region), Lanzhou (Gansu Province), Xining (Qinghai Province), as well as Yinchuan (Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region).”
MGTO, she added, is also eyeing the Middle East and returned this year to the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.
According to a 2023 travel behaviour survey in the Middle East, intent to visit Macau is high, Fernandes shared, and more than half of the respondents (which included the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait) are willing to visit Macau (ranging from 53 per cent to 77 per cent).”
To prepare the industry, MGTO organised an Islamic Culture in Tourism workshop in March and December last year, and in February 2024 joined hands with the industry to organise the Macao Welcomes You Training Programmes for International Guests to enhance knowledge and skills.
Training content included Islamic etiquette and cultural customs, understanding what halal-certified food is and the certification process and system.
MGTO, which was a business partner of the Halal Pavilion 2024 at the Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability Expo in Hong Kong, held in January, also organised a travel trade delegation to the event to provide a platform for the industry to increase its expertise and supplier contacts.
