Dr. Alexis Tam Chon Weng, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture and Chairperson of Tourism Development Committee, hosted the second CDT Plenary Meeting on 25 September at 3pm.

The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) presented the latest tourism development status, major tourism figures raised year on year. Afterwards, MGTO reported that the hotel performance declined during the period of 23^rd of August to 5^th of September due to the impact of Typhoon Hato, the number of visitors had returned to normal starting from 11^th of September.  Dr. Alexis Tam Chon Weng thanked the tourism industry for the effort contributed to the disaster recovery.

On the promotion of sustainable tourism development, Dr. Alexis Tam Chon Weng said that apart from Japan and Korea, MGTO would further visit more cities with direct flights to Macao such as Singapore and Indonesia and has plans to develop the high-end tourism market of those remote cities of Mainland China. In addition, the co-operation between the Macao SAR Government and Portuguese Government included tourism, culture, health care, education and sports, etc. The Portuguese Government has fully supported Macao’s application as one of the UNESCO Creative Cities of Gastronomy as well as the “Chapas Sínicas” for inclusion in the Memory of the World.  Successful applications will further enhance the international visibility of Macao.

Later on, MGTO introduced the Macao Tourism Industry Development Master Plan (referred to as the “Master Plan”), saying that the “Master Plan” was in line with the Five-Year Development Plan (2016-2020) of the Macao SAR, which was also an action program to achieve Macao's vision of becoming the World Centre of Tourism and Leisure. Since tourism development related to a wide range of segments, including community, industry, social groups and public sectors, the “Master Plan” established a development framework and comprehensive plan to support the Government and the community to achieve this common goal.

At the meeting, The Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation conducted an analysis on the accessible facilities of Macao Tourism, which was commissioned by the Tourism Development Committee (CDT) to investigate the accessibility of 80 tourist attractions and facilities of Macao and provided a number of suggestions for improvement to the Macao SAR Government. For example, ways of improving accessibility of transport infrastructure, barrier-free concept promotion, optimizing tourism facilities and creating conditions for the development of barrier-free tourism, etc.

Dr. Alexis Tam Chon Weng expressed his concern about people with disabilities and the elderly’s participation in tourist activities on an equal footing in Macao. In the future, he will further strengthen cooperation with transportation sectors to optimize the universal design of the Macao SAR.

Recommendations given by the CDT members included: numerous tourism-related SMEs were impacted by Typhoon Hato and expecting further assistance provided by the Government; reviewed the incapability of tourism facilities in disaster prevention and make correspondence improvements; upon completion of the “Master Plan”, cross-sectoral coordination in the public sector was crucial to promote the tourism industry as a whole;  gave priority to the development of "Smart Tourism”, "Family Tourism" and tourism with features; quality personnel were required to develop tourism, hence recommended to create work opportunities for non-local residents as well as conducting tourism awareness campaign for tourism practitioners; enhanced the attractiveness of community tourism and promoted community economic development; strengthened the image of Macao as a leisure travel city and highlighted its festive image that combined Eastern and Western culture; supported Macao to become the leading tourism training hub in Asia; conducted a timely assessment of tourism development to make appropriate adjustments during the implementation of the “Master Plan”; the “Master Plan” was recommended to provide a clearer investment opportunity and direction for the industry members to follow.

Committee members who expressed opinions in the meeting included Kwan Yany Yan Chi, Wong Ian Man, Ieong Weng Seng, Ieong Chi Wa, Kan Man Neng, Cheung Kin Chung and Fang Liqun.