GGRAsia – Hengqin-Macau tour reboot for mainland consumers: MGTO

Hengqin-Macau tour reboot for mainland consumers: MGTO

Sep 19, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Package stays covering non-gaming activities on Hengqin island (pictured), a piece of mainland China territory, and a stop at a Macau hotel, are again being touted to mainland tour groups.

Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has confirmed to GGRAsia it has has been working with a number of major mainland online travel agencies to promote Macau-Hengqin tours aimed at families.

One of the partner agencies is Lvmama, said Macau’s tourism bureau, in an emailed reply to an enquiry from GGRAsia.

Lvmama is “offering a five-day VIP small-tour group package for two to six people, which includes a visit to Zhuhai’s Chimelong [theme park on Hengqin] and Macau,” said MGTO.

It is “part of a year-long marketing campaign that will run until June 2024, with both MGTO and Lvmama subsidising the travel packages,” the tourism bureau added.

One tour offers an aggregate of three nights utilising two Hengqin hotels, and a one-night stay at Lisboeta Macau – a non-gaming hotel complex in Macau’s Cotai district, according to checks by GGRAsia via the Lvmama booking engine.

That package’s price as of Monday was circa CNY4,000 (US$548) and covers hotel stays, transport, and admission tickets to Chimelong, as well as a visit to casino resort The Parisian Macao in Cotai.

Ctrip and Qunar – two other Chinese online travel agencies – sold Macau-Hengqin package products during a series of promotional events organised by MGTO called the ‘Experience-Macau, Unlimited’ Caravan Roadshow held across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area earlier this year, noted Macau’s tourism bureau in its update.

“Whenever possible,” MGTO requests that its partnering online travel agencies “include products” covering itineraries to “Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau,” it told GGRAsia.

“Based on market response, MGTO plans to gradually introduce more tours in the future,” the office added.

MGTO deputy director Cheng Wai Tong mentioned the Hengqin-Macau tour trade in a recent statement replying to a written enquiry on the topic from Macau legislator Lei Chan U.

The Hengqin-Macau two-centre holiday trade aimed at mainland consumers dates back to at least 2015.