The expansion of the space reserved for Portuguese speaking countries products is one of the novelties of the 7th Macao Tourism Expo, which takes place between the 26th and 28th of this month, was announced today.
In the year of the 20th anniversary of the creation of China’s special administrative region, after the transfer of Portugal’s administration to China, the Tourism Expo will return in 2019 with “a bigger goal“, said Tourism Director Helena de Senna Fernandes.
In this sense, the exhibition area increased to double, from 11 thousand to 22 thousand square meters, and the number of exhibitors increased from 550 to 800, in an overall budget of 23 million patacas (2.4 million euros) the official said in a press conference.
In addition to a pavilion dedicated entirely to the commemorations of the 20 years, Senna Fernandes justified the expansion of the space with the wide display of Portuguese-speaking products, in the same year that celebrates, in parallel, the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Portugal.
The Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (APAVT), which elected Macao as the association’s preferred destination for 2019, will be present at the event, which starts on the 26th of this month but only opens to the public between the 27th and 28th, in the Venetian casino hotel, in the Cotai casino strip, between the islands of Taipa and Coloane.
To date, it has confirmed the participation of about 430 companies and entities and 450 professional buyers, from more than 50 countries and regions.
Among other highlights of this edition, Senna Fernandes underscored a partnership with National Geographic through a session entitled “How Macau leads to change for a more sustainable and creative industry in Asia“, and an exclusive day for contact bags.
At the same time, the promotion of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay as a multi-destination itinerary will be in focus.
In February, Beijing presented the general guidelines for this project to create a world metropolis comprising Hong Kong and Macao’s special Chinese administrative regions and nine cities [Guangzhou, Dongguan, Foshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Shenzhen, Zhaoqing, Zhongshan and Zhuhai] in southern China’s Guangdong Province.
This area, with about 70 million inhabitants, has a gross domestic product that is around the US $ 1.3 billion, larger than the GDP of Australia, Indonesia and Mexico, which are members of the G20.
