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Macao Special Administrative Region ( SAR) will launch a series of tourism promotion projects in its major tourist source markets of China's mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan starting from June to retrieve its losses triggered by the outbreak of SARS.
Joao Manuel Antunes, director of the Macao Tourist Office, announced at a press conference Wednesday that Macao has made a 30 million-pataca (US$3.6 million) budget for the tourist promotion scheme with some 11.5 million patacas (US$1.3 million) to be poured on the Hong Kong market.
Over 90 percent of tourists to Macao come from the three tourist source markets. The SAR government hoped to lure more tourists in the later half of the year to catch last year's record of 11 million tourist arrivals.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Chui Sai On said that the spread of SARS in Macao's neighboring regions of Guangdong and Hong Kong brought down the number of tourists to the SAR by 33 percent in April to 660,000.
However, with the lift of World Health Organization's travel advisory against the region last weekend, the economy has taken signs of getting back on track of a recovery, and Macao has to seize the chance to invigorate the local tourist market, the secretary added.
(China Daily May 29, 2003)
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