CRI听力:Macao: Towards a World Center of Tourism and Leisure

The tourism industry in Macau is the economic pillar of the local economy, accounting for 86% of its GDP last year while supporting 300-thousand jobs.

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of the Macau Government Tourist Office, says that the city has benefited tremendously from the Macau Individual Visit Scheme.

"In terms of the central government's policy, a very very big push has been the Individual Visit Scheme which was started in 2003. And there are 49 different cities in the whole of China, the residents of which can come to Macau on an individual basis. That has been really very much the impetus which has given Macau a very very rapid growth in the last 10, 12 years."

Due to the ongoing anti-graft campaign on the Chinese mainland, the revenue from the gaming sector has decreased in recent months.

But Kenneth Ng, President of the Macau Intelligent Tourism Association, says the change represents an opportunity.

"The government, five or six years before, planned to develop more non-gambling issues in all those phase two projects. For example, in the Wynn, one of the very famous hotel group in Macau and in the world, they will have a 2,000 room casino resort open in 2016, buy nearly 85% percent of the entertainment inside is not related to gambling. "

As tourism focuses more on experiences, visitors are encouraged to walk around and spend more.

Apart from leisure tourist expenditure, the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibition, or MICE industry has been playing a crucial role in the diversification and optimization of Macau's tourism.

Dr. Aliana Leong, Vice Rector of the City University of Macau and Dean of the Faculty of International Tourism Management.

"Tourists spend only 1.4 nights on average in Macau. So one of the challenges is how to make the visitors stay longer therefore they can spend more in Macau. The MICE activities could attract participants to visit the city again with their friends and families after they take part in some of the conferences and exhibitions in Macau."

Macau has been partnering with Guangdong and Hong Hong in tourist promotion for over two decades.

With the border crossing between Macau and Hengqin Island of Zhuhai opening 24 hours starting from today, more visitors are expected to come to Macau via easier means of transportation.

For CRI, I'm Luo Yu reporting in Macau.