Macau takes off with new destinations

The Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) in the Philippines recently hosted a cocktail presentation at the Cats Celebration Center of the New World Renaissance Hotel in Makati City to showcase “Destination: Macau.”

Special guest Frederico So, MGTO head office marketing executive, stressed the importance of further strengthening the Macau-RP ties as MGTO continues to intensify Macau’s tourism services to make Macau more attractive especially to Filipinos.

The cocktail featured three much raved-about Macau artists such as the flour figure maker for sculpting colorful miniatures of characters and animals in dough; the sweet maker for melting caramel into hair strand goodies; and the caricature artist for sketching portraits of guests with Macau tourist spots and other popular events as backdrop.

As an added come-on, So discussed the recent liberalization of Macau’s gaming industry that will pave the way for other concessionaires to usher in Macau as “the Las Vegas of Asia.”

So also mentioned the grand prospect of tapping China’s outbound market, the upsurge of other tourism-related services such as entertainment and convention centers, amusement parks, golf and country clubs and enhancement of existing cultural landmarks that makes Macau a fusion of East and West.

As part of the “Macau Tourism Awareness Campaign,” So pointed out that Macau citizens must be very supportive of the fast-paced nature of their tourism industry, which is the backbone of their economy.

Jet Cabuslay, MGTO-Philippines representative, welcomed guests from the diplomatic community, travel agencies, airlines and the destination’s corporate market, as she spoke on the recent developments in the territory.

Cabuslay cited the recent opening of the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Center, the Macau Highlight Tour specially designed for foreign individual travelers (FITs) on the look out for new quality sightseeing tours, the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf, the new Macau-Shenzen direct turbojet ferry services, and the New Squares that add a new dimension to relaxing Macau.

Those who graced the event included Ambassador of Portugal João Caetano da Silva, Ambassador of Sri Lanka P.G. Karunasiri, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China Wang Chungui, Ambassador of Kuwait Ebrahim Muhanna Al-Muhanna, Czech Consul Jana Chalovpkova, First Secretary of Legal and Consular Affairs Lars Leymann of the Federal Republic Of Germany Embassy, Director and Counsellor Eiichi Suzuki of the JICA-Embassy of Japan, First Secretary and Deputy Chief of Mission Phongsavat Keola of Embassy of Lao PDR, Attache Marja Korhonen of the Embassy of Finland, Second Secretary and Consul Alok Kumar of the Embassy of India, among others.

To cap the cocktail, raffle prizes were given away with two grand prize free trips to Macau via Air Macau as well as other souvenir items.