Outbound

Macau Tourism identifies a strong MICE market in India

Sanjeev Bhar - New Delhi

After registering a strong inbound growth of almost 100 per cent from India, Macau is taking initiatives to make India its favoured trade destination. Observing the growing interest of Indian travllers to Macau, the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) held a one-day workshop for the travel agents focusing on MICE to promote the country further. Fok Wai Lan, Betty, head of marketing, MGTO said, "In the calendar year 2007, Macau received 45,400 Indian tourists. By June this year, the same segment figure has touched 42,000, which is a very encouraging sign proving India as a big market for us in Asia. We are now initiating new marketing plans to tap the MICE segment." India now contributes to around three per cent of Macau's total inbound travellers segment.

As part of its marketing initiative in India, Macau Tourism launched a radio taxi promotion in the capital on August 22 and will be launching one in Mumbai soon. MGTO held a one-day workshop for agents specialising in MICE tours to update them on various new products and developments to popularise Macau as a favoured destination for the MICE market as well. MGTO invited more than 100 such agents for the interaction that was held. Keeping an eye on that, the country will also continue with its no visa approach for specific countries like India apart from having no fees levied on entering the country as a traveller. "Interestingly, trade in Macau is looking at India as a platform for prospective business opportunities, owing to the growing interest of Indian companies to invest in restaurants, hotels, etc. The Investment Bureau of Macau in this regard is very active and negotiates with the prospective player," Betty informed.

Further she added, "If private hotels and individual agencies wish to take MICE groups to Macau, they can contact our India office for detailed information on the facilities they can avail of from accommodation to meeting venues and so on." Even with the economic slow down, Macau Tourism is confident that Indians will not curtail travelling as such and will continue to grow as big inbound market for Macau.