Macau’s Tourism Planning Approach and Challenges
Penny Yim King WAN
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Business Administration
University of Macau
E-mail:
Francisco Vizeu PINHEIRO
Adjunct Professor, Inter University Institute of Macao
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Abstract
Macau has experienced a booming economy since 2004 caused mainly by the liberalization of casino licensing and the implementation of the Individual Visitation Scheme (IVS) that allows many mainlanders from China to travel to Hong Kong and Macau individually without joining group tours like before. This sudden growth has called for more hotels, casinos and all kinds of entertainment facilities as well a speculative investment and real estate developments fostered by casino entrepreneurs. This single focus development absorbs most of the human and land available resources, making difficult for a sustainable diversification of the economy. Economic focus on gaming facilities development may imposing direct contradiction and threat to other development interests including tourism development, heritage conservation and urban development. Problems get worst if government officials are not well-prepared for the changes, apparent lack of planning guidelines and a master plan to manage and coordinate different areas like transportation, green zones, public facilities, etc.
This paper, therefore, examines the development challenges that Macau is currently facing and discusses the shortcomings of its tourism planning approaches in responding to these challenges or societal demands. Several recommendations are make for improving the situation. Data for this study are from various sources including local newspapers, government policies, guidelines and ordinances related to urban and tourism planning, academic papers and reports and field works.
Keywords: urban planning, land use, tourism, real estate, Macau.