Macau casino concessionaire Sands China Ltd has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Guangdong-Macau Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Industrial Park Development Co Ltd (GMTCM), “to promote the integration of the ‘big health’ tourism industry” in Macau and Hengqin.
The partnership will focus on promoting regional collaboration, stated Sands China in a Friday press release, following the signing ceremony.
The announcement said the two entities “plan to fully utilise their respective resources” to help health brands in Macau and Hengqin to internationalise and “attract international and domestic investment to Macau,” including by promoting the collaboration between providers of big health products and the hosting of trade events.
The term ‘big health’ is used by the Macau government and the mainland authorities to refer to healthcare and related services that can be developed in Macau to help diversify the city’s economy beyond high-stakes casino gambling.
Hengqin has been earmarked by China’s central government as an area to develop the so-called “1+4” policy. The title indicates the tourism industry, plus four nascent industries: “big health”; modern finance, high-technology business; and conferences and exhibitions as well as culture and sport.
Grant Chum, chief executive and executive director of Sands China, said in prepared remarks that his company was “honoured to be the first among Macau’s integrated resort operators to sign an MoU with GMTCM”.
“Given that the global health tourism industry holds significant growth potential and a vast market scale, we hope to connect our tourism sector with big health by utilising resources within integrated resorts, organising conferences and exhibitions, and introducing health tourism products to make Macau a player in this emerging industry,” he Stated.
The CEO added: “In the future, we will collaborate with GMTCM to establish an industrial chain for the health tourism industry, promoting Macau and Hengqin as premier destinations in this regard.”
The release said the two sides also plan to create opportunities for “integrating big health and tourism in Macau and Hengqin, highlighting the convenience of the border crossing and facilitating the development of both regions”.
Potential areas for collaboration cover the organisation of big health trade events, in order to promote the development of the medical, healthcare, and wellness industry in Macau and Hengqin, according to the release.
Related events might include professional forums, industrial exhibitions, and international conferences and meetings, “intended to strengthen exchange and interaction between Macau and Hengqin,” it added.
Other possibilities include introducing big health-related tourism facilities and products at Sands China’s resorts and GMTCM Park “to provide premium health management and medical care services for tourists and residents” in the two regions.
The announcement cited Wu Song, chairman of GMTCM, as saying: “This collaboration marks the official launch of in-depth cooperation between the two parties in the field of big health and tourism, carrying profound significance for advancing the cross-sector integration of Macau and Hengqin’s ‘tourism+’ initiatives.”
Mr Wu added that the two sides “have vast potential for collaboration in areas such as product development, service innovation, and market expansion”.
