NEWS GOV-MO: Macao designated “Preferred Destination 2025” by European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Associations and host city of its “Summit” next year helping to expand visitor source markets from Europe

The European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Associations (ECTAA) announced on Friday (26 April) that Macao will be the host city of “ECTAA 2025 Macao Summit” and its “Preferred Destination 2025.” Set to bring member associations of 30 countries next year to Macao, the summit and related initiatives brings a unique opportunity to showcase the city’s “tourism +” offerings to Europe’s top travel agents and tour operators, helping to expand international visitor source markets.

The announcement ceremony was held at the 12th Macao International Travel (Industry) Expo (MITE), and was presided over by the Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, the President of the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (APAVT), Pedro Costa Ferreira, the Vice President of ECTAA, Heli Mäki-Fränti, and the heads of several Macao travel and tourism related associations.

Unique opportunity to promote Macao in Europe

As part of MGTO’s partnership with APAVT to increase visitor arrivals from Portugal, Spain, and Europe after the pandemic, a collaboration with ECTAA, of which APAVT is a member, was forged for the city to host the “ECTAA 2025 Macao Summit” and for the designation of “Macao – ECTAA Preferred Destination 2025.”

In a speech at the occasion, MGTO Director Maria Helena Senna Fernandes highlighted that these initiatives will bring “a unique opportunity to continue to raise our destination’s profile and boost visitor flows from Europe,” by helping to “showcase the new dynamic development of Macao as a world center of tourism and leisure to ECTAA’s members of around 30 across Europe.”

The President of APAVT Pedro Costa Ferreira remarked that this is “the biggest opportunity, in recent years, to bring together an important source market, – Europe – and the tourist destination of Macao, extending this logic, of course, to the whole of China,” adding that “APAVT has, both humbly and discreetly, been actively working towards achieving this result, highlighting the advantages of the project, and bringing the parties involved closer together.”

While the Vice President of ECTAA Heli Mäki-Fränti noted that with the partnership “the Macao Government Tourism Office will be able to present the extensive offerings of the territory to about 80.000 European travel professionals, encouraging them to consider Macao as an exceptional choice for their clientele,” believing that it “will result in better and stronger relations between Macao incoming agents and our members.”

Summit to gather heads of travel associations from 30 European countries

Hosted by MGTO, the “ECTAA 2025 Macao Summit” will gather in the city the heads of the national associations of travel agencies and tour operators’ members of ECTAA from around 30 European countries for the General Assembly and Board Meeting of the organization. The summit will also provide participants with a firsthand experience of the development of Macao as a world center of tourism and leisure, to help boost visitor flows from Europe.

As part of the designation of “Macao – ECTAA’s Preferred Destination 2025,” throughout next year, the organization will promote the destination in its information materials, website, and social media channels, among other initiatives to be conducted targeting travel media, travel agents, and tour operators.

European delegation at 12th MITE as promotional work continues

MGTO invited, in collaboration with APAVT, a delegation of European travel trade and media to attend this year’s 12th MITE. The group of 30 people, aside from APAVT, ECTAA and the Spanish Confederation of Travel Agents (CEAV) representatives, includes the heads of travel agencies and travel media from Portugal and Spain. During their stay in Macao, along with business exchanges at MITE, they will also experience the city’s cultural heritage, gastronomy and entertainment offerings, as well as visit Hengqin.

Following the relaunch of in-person promotional work in Portugal in 2023, MGTO returned this year to the Lisbon Travel Market and the Spanish travel fair FITUR, leveraging on the designation of “Macao – APAVT Preferred International Destination 2024” to promote the city’s attractions in partnership with APAVT in Portugal last March, laying the ground for the National Congress of the association next year in Macao.

The hosting of “ECTAA 2025 Macao Summit” and the “APAVT National Congress 2025 in Macao”, will be two high moments for the city to continue to help tap into the European market, as part of the efforts to increase international visitor source markets, boosting tourism economy towards a diversified development.