Wanted Direct flights to Macau

The current bilateral agreement on connectivity is outdated and should be revised to improve connectivity and arrivals from India.

TT BUREAU From

5,000 arrivals in 2000, Macau registered 180,000 arrivals from India in 2011. Direct flights from India are the key to increase India’s outbound to Macau. Realising this issue, Macau Tourism is talking to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Ministry of Tourism in India to establish direct air connectivity between both the regions, says Joao Manuel Costa Antunes, Director, Macau Tourism and Chairman, Pacific Air Transport Association (PATA) during the first multi-destination roadshow in India organised jointly by Macau, Guangdong and Hong Kong, covering Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi.

According to Antunes, the current bilateral agreement is outdated and in order to improve air connectivity, this needs to be revised. “Air Macau does not have carriers flying to India as it is a regional carrier. Hence, we are talking to Indian carriers,” he informed.

With a slew of openings in the five-star hotel category, Macau is obviously wooing the high-end Indian travellers. However, this does not mean that it is not working towards luring the budget consumers from the country. “Generally, the trend in Macau is to stay in the fivestar category hotels. However, next month, we are going to launch a special website for lower budget hotels for the price-sensitive market,” he added.

Encouraging the Indian groups visiting Hong Kong and Macau to extend their visits to the Guangdong province on the South China Sea, Guangdong Province Tourist Authority (GPTA) also announced 144-hour Convenient Group Visa for Indian visitors. Giving out this information, Mei Qi Jei, Deputy Chairman, Tourism Administration of Guangdong Province confirmed, “Indian visitors always club Macau and Hong Kong. This new facility will help Indian visitors to Hong Kong and Macau to explore the leisure facilities in the Guangdong Province as well.” This service can be availed by groups of two to less than 40 people for six days.