MGTO head dodges capacity question again

2014-1-28

From:Macau Daily Times

The Director of the Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), Helena de Senna Fernandes, has again declined to comment on Macau’s capacity to receive a large influx of tourists during the Chinese New Year. She has also claimed that MGTO will not legalize family hostels without considering the opinions of the public.
Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes reiterated that the Policy Research Office has been looking into the issue of Macau’s tourism capacity and hopes that it will provide some scientific results so that the public will understand more. “I think we should wait for the result to come out first. I believe that we need an objective and scientific assessment,” she claimed. However, she refused to speculate when the result will be published, claiming that it is a matter for the Policy Research Office.
The Director stressed that MGTO is not pursuing an endless increase in the number of visitors because of space constraints, and the overcrowding situation can be resolved by diverting visitors to other areas in Macau. “We have noticed that occasionally tourists are over-concentrated in some specific areas that have lead residents to feel like those places are too crowded and uncomfortable. Therefore, we are striving to introduce more locations to tourists [for them to visit] so that they will be able to have a deeper immersion and understanding of Macau, whilst channeling them to other locations,” she stated.
Ms Fernandes estimated that the number of visitors to Macau during the upcoming Chinese New Year will be similar to last year. She explained that although the number of package tours has been decreasing since October 2013, the drop will be replenished by the increase in the amount of individual visitors. This is attributed to the improvement in mainland transportation infrastructure, such as the construction of the high-
speed rail system which will give individual tourists better access to Macau. She predicted that the peak of tourists entering and leaving Macau will be between the first, third and sixth day of CNY.
Ms Fernandes also reminded the public that the Public Security Police (PSP) has an online platform that releases information regarding the situation on different borders so that residents and visitors can avoid travelling through them during peak hours. MGTO will continue to promote this plat-
form for PSP. Ms Fernandes informed us that “there are also machines at different MGTO booths that will show this information. We have always been promoting this (platform)… We also use We-Chat (mobile app) and phone messages to notify travelers from nearby regions, especially mainland visitors, of special occasions and tools that can assist with their trip”.
In addition, the Director also reassured residents that MGTO will listen to the opinions of the public and will not roll out the plan to legalize family hostels if they were to oppose to it. “We are going to launch feasibility research, in which we will have a survey. Although [the plan] might well be legally feasible, we cannot and should not initiate the relevant legislative process if residents are against it. We will also have professionals to analyze the operation of this type of accommodation through gathering information to see how many models there are in the world, what the pros and cons are, as well as whether it is worth establishing them in Macau” Ms Fernandes said. She stated that MGTO also have to look into the legal framework and see what legal considerations they have to make.
The MGTO Director made comments during the opening of the recently renovated tourism information counter at the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal.
Ms Fernandes revealed that they had been considering reorganizing their information counters since last year. MGTO wants to provide a more human-centered service and this allows visitors to acquire information through their mobile devices.
“We have reviewed how we provide information and services to our tourists and that gave us the idea to reorganize our information platforms. First, to be more human-centered; second, we will be able to introduce some measures that will allow visitors to get information in an easier manner. Apart from asking our staff or taking information leaflets, they can also obtain information through some electronic media.” “Even if they arrive at [Macau] at night, when we are closed, they can still get information through other platforms,” she said.
Ms Fernandes added that the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal will be the first one to be renovated. It will serve as the example for the future renovations of other counters, although some of those, such as that at the Border Gate and the ferry terminal in Hong Kong, are restricted by their space and cannot replicate the design of the Ferry Terminal counter.
Ms Fernandes disclosed that the next counter to be constructed with the new design will be that in the Pac On Ferry Terminal “because it will be a completely new structure, so this will be a good time to bring in a new design concept so [that] we don’t need to close it in the future and redo the design”. JPL

Copyright@Macau Daily Times