Macao Government Tourism Office: New Year’s Greetings and 2025 Activities

Continued focus on attracting tourists from Japan to Macau – Roadshow planned for April in Akihabara, Tokyo

 

January 1, 2025

Macao Government Tourism Office

As we welcome the new year, Ms. Maria Elena de Sena Fernandez, Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China), would like to extend her happy new year greetings.

2024 was a memorable year, marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 25th anniversary of the handover to China. As part of the tourism bureau’s activities in Japan, in March it held a roadshow at Coredo Muromachi, implementing promotional measures that directly appealed to the attractions of Macau, and in September it exhibited at the Tourism EXPO JAPAN 2024 held at Tokyo Big Sight, livening up the Macau booth with 11 businesses. In addition, in December it invited 25 industry professionals from Tokyo and Osaka to Macau through JATA, and sought to expand business opportunities between Japan and Macau through tour development for Japanese tourists and business meetings.

The number of Japanese tourists who visited Macau from January to November 2024 was 114,314, already significantly exceeding the annual number of Japanese tourists in 2023 of 75,155, and as of the end of November, it has reached 152% of the number in 2023, indicating a recovery trend. However, compared to 2019 (295,783 people) before the COVID-19 pandemic, it is still less than 40%. Although the number of tourists from other countries is steadily recovering, the Macao Government Tourism Office considers Japan to be one of its key markets and will continue to focus on attracting more visitors from Japan in 2025.

In 2025, the city of Macau will be bathed in light with “Light Up Macau,” followed by the “Chinese New Year Celebration Parade” with 15 to 18 colorfully decorated floats and “Chinese New Year Celebration Fireworks” in February. In April, “Experience Macao” will be held for the general public in Akihabara, Tokyo, to fully appeal to Japanese people and foreign tourists visiting Japan about the charms of Macau. In June, the “Macau International Gastronomy Carnival 2025” will be held, an event that will allow you to feel the uniqueness of Macau, which is registered as a UNESCO “Creative City of Gastronomy,” and gourmets will be delighted by skilled chefs from all over the world. In September, the annual “Macau International Fireworks Contest” will be held again, and the fireworks artists who will light up the night sky of Macau will compete against each other. In addition, the Macau Grand Prix (November) and Macau International Marathon (December), which utilize the city center, are scheduled to be held as usual. Details of each event will be posted on the Tourism Bureau’s website and social media.

• Major activities and topics of the Tourism Bureau in 2025January

  Light Up Macau 2024 (running until February 28th)

  2025 Chinese New Year Festival (1/29-30)

  February

  Chinese New Year Celebration Parade (1/31, 2/16)

  Chinese New Year celebration fireworks (1/31, 2/4, 2/12)

  April

  Macao Tokyo Roadshow “Experience Macao” (April 17-20, Tokyo, Japan)

  13th Macau International Travel (Industry) Fair (April 25-27)

  June

  Macau International Gastronomy Carnival 2025 (June 20-29)

  September

  33rd Macau International Fireworks Competition (held over multiple days in September and October)

  World Tourism Day Tracy Race (9/27)

  November

  72nd Macau Grand Prix

  December

  The 44th Macau International Marathon

  Light Up Macau 2025

About Macau

Macau, which was returned to China from Portugal in 1999, has an area of about 30 km2 and is home to nearly 700,000 people, making it one of the most densely populated cities in the world. 90% of the population is Chinese, and the official languages are Chinese and Portuguese, but Cantonese, Mandarin, and English are commonly spoken. Air Macau operates one direct flight per day from Narita International Airport and Kansai International Airport. In 2018, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge was opened, making it possible to access Macau from Hong Kong in about 60 minutes.

About Macao Government Tourism Office

The Macao Government Tourism Office is responsible for formulating, analyzing and implementing tourism policies to promote Macao as a quality destination in line with the Macao SAR Government’s vision of developing Macao into a “World Tourism and Leisure Centre”. It works with Macao’s travel industry to develop products and services that will attract tourists to Macao, in key and emerging markets as well as potential markets.

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