Macao a business events city like no other
Macao, branded “Your Business Events Desination”, is gathering momentum as a business events destination. The destination has indeed many assets up its sleeves and has placed greater focus on its Unique Selling Propositions.
Rémi Dévé writes
Facts speak for themselves. This year, Macao hosted the 11thWorldwide Chinese Life Insurance Congress 2016 and International Dragon Awards: the Venetian Macaowelcomed some 7,200 members of the worldwide Chinese insurance and financial industry for a well-known awards ceremony. This event saw delegates from 17 countries gather for meetings, networking events, award ceremonies and sightseeing tours across the destination. This was the second time Macao hosted the event, the first being in 2001 (for more on this, see sidebar).
Looking promising
Next year already looks promising, as Macao will host the Asia Pacific Dental Congress, a unique achievement considering that the 2016 edition was held in Hong Kong. Other large-scale events lined up in Macao in the second half includethe 9thACM SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Asia (with more than 5,000 participants expected), NU Skin Star Academy Meeting(with about 7,000 expected), and Jeunesse Global Greater China Conference(with about 10,000 expected).Macao is poised to receive even more major events in 2017, Asia Pacific Dental Congress (with more than 3,000 participants expected),China Expo Forum for International Cooperation (CEFCO) 2017 etc., demonstrating Macao's capacity to host large scale conventions .
The efforts made by the Macao Trade & Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), the go-to agency for international meetings and events, and Macao's business events industry have obviously yielded fruit. IPIM initiated and now manages a series of support programmes to stimulate its conventions and trade show business, and strongly supports local associations to bid for international conferences. It has, for instance, successfully launched Subvention Programs covering a minimum of 100 pax in a 2 day meeting plus 0.5 day corporate activity; or trade shows of more than 1,000 sqm. IPIM also offers a range of incentives ranging from covering the cost of accommodation, food and beverage, keynote speakers’ participation, promotion & marketing etc.
Climbing the Rankings
Currently, Macao has more than 190,000 sqm of meeting space, and over 37,000 hotel rooms in the city with more international hotels development in the pipeline. The Parisian Macao and Wynn Palace opened in the last 2 months, with the MGM Cotai, Lisboa Palace, LOUIS XIII and others opening in the next few years bringing the total number of rooms to over 50,000. Macao now has one of Asia's highest capacity inventories for business events. Connectivity to Macao will be further enhanced with the addition of the Hong Kong - Zhuhai - Macao road bridge providing a direct road linkage to the Hong Kong International Airport.
According to the 2015 ICCA Statistics Report, 28 international association meetings were held in Macao, showing an increase of 5 events compared to 2014. As for ranking in Asia, Macao ranked 34th in 2013, 20th in 2014, and 21st in 2015. Worldwide, Macao ranks 93rd in 2015, moving up 8 places compared to the previous year. The rise in ranking has put Macao on par with cities like Auckland in New Zealand, Brisbane in Australia and Bordeaux in France and proves that the destination is a rising star in the conferences and events world.
Contact
Mavis Lei
Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute
T. (853) 8798 9128
Other Articles
Recently Posted
About Us
Supported by the Union of International Associations (UIA), the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO) and the Interel Group, the global public affairs and association management consultancy, Headquarters Magazines serve the needs of international associations organising worldwide congresses.
