World Tourism Day kicks off on September 27

The Seventh Macau World Tourism Day was held by Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) on September 27, promoting the important meaning of World Tourism Day to all people around the world.

This is the seventh time Macau held and celebrated World Tourism Day. The event started in front of Macau's landmark, St Paul's Ruins, with a traditional dance show, the "lion dance." It was followed by an old competition called "Tray race". About 80 people who worked in the tourism industry joined the competition. They needed to hold a tray with a bottle of beer by walking fast from St Paul's Ruins to the destination, Senado Square.

After the tray race, Ricky Wong, a student in the Institute for Tourism Studies, who joined the race last year said, "This is my second time to participate and it is worth it. This kind of traditional activity showed that we can give our best service to all the visitors in Macau," he emphasized.

Joao Manuel Costa Antunes, director of MGTO presented some souvenirs to tourists and asked them to join a free lucky draw in the Macau Ferry Terminal. He hoped that tourists will have a beautiful memory of Macau and keep coming back.

In the same month, Macau held the 18th Macau International Fireworks display contest which invited 12 countries to join the firework competition, such as Japan, Korea, Germany, France and the United States...etc. Because of the competition, MGTO organized a culture and tourism exchange with these countries this year, and activities included food promotions, local product shows, cultural activities and celebrations in order to promote Macau and let more visitors know about the local culture of Macau.

Waitresses ready for the “Tray Race”

Macau held its first World Tourism Day in September 2000. Since then it has become a very popular tourism event. Many activities were organized on that day. In 2000, local residents and tourists were free to visit all the museums in Macau. In 2001, the "Macau Tourism Knowledge Activities" was launched, in which all Macau citizens were asked to be involved, to promote and cultivate a good image for Macau. The activities included a writing competition for "One Thousand a Day Trip" (how to plan a one day trip in Macau); a civil campaign to be polite to tourists; a tourism knowledge contest and a media promotion. Local taxi drivers and restaurant workers participated in the event by posting some tourism designs and slogans. In 2003, more activities were added such as a concert from the United States and a dance show from Mexico, and local activities of "tricycle rebuilding" and "professional driving contest." In 2004, MGTO handed out balloons to tourists in all tourist sites of Macau hoping tourists would fulfill them with happiness.

In the past six years, many countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, the United States, Australia and many provinces from mainland China were invited to hold their local cultural activities in Macau during World Tourism Day. MGTO also invited Hong Kong and mainland China Tourism officials to make a visit to many shops in Macau so as to make them confident of the good reputation of Macau shops and attract more tourists to spend in the city.

World Tourism Day was first organized by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) in Spain on September 27, 1979 and it was set every year as World Tourism Day. It is a festival for all the tourism workers and tourists around the world.