The Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao) and Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) jointly held on November 6 the “Promotion Seminar of Tourism Products from Portuguese-speaking Countries”. The event took place at 4pm in Hall D of Cotai Expo, at the Venetian Macao resort.

The seminar aimed to contribute to Macao’s “One Centre, One Platform” role, and promote between Mainland China, Macao and the Portuguese-speaking Countries, close exchanges and cooperation on tourism.

Opening ceremony guests included Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao Deputy Secretary-General Mr Ding Tian, and MGTO Director Ms Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes. They each delivered a speech at the event.

In his remarks, Mr Ding noted that tourism – one of the world’s most important economic sectors – had been greatly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. He added that a post-pandemic rebound in tourism would play an important role in driving global economic recovery.

Mr Ding pointed out that Portuguese-speaking Countries had rich and distinctive tourism resources, with room for development that should not be overlooked. Mainland China, on the other hand, remained the world’s largest source market for outbound tourism, with about 155 million outbound visits made by Chinese travellers in 2019. Those two factors meant there were sizeable opportunities for tourism cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries, once the pandemic was brought under control, he said.

Mr Ding stated he hoped participants from the tourism sector could make the most of the Promotion Seminar of Tourism Products from Portuguese-speaking Countries, using Macao as a platform in order to exchange views and discuss fresh opportunities for cooperation in tourism between Mainland China, Macao and the Portuguese-speaking Countries. That would, he said, ultimately promote joint prosperity and the economic development of all parties, in the post-pandemic period.

Following the opening ceremony, the Representatives of the Portuguese-speaking Countries at the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao delivered presentations on the tourist resources and products, and the investment and business environments, of their respective countries.

Promoting tourism cooperation is an important task of Forum Macao, as Macao positions itself as a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure. The Promotion Seminar of Tourism Products from Portuguese-speaking Countries allowed participants from a number of sectors to deepen their knowledge of the available tourism resources and products in each of the Portuguese-speaking Countries, in order to facilitate exchanges and cooperation on tourism between China and those countries.