I'Emu T T E R W O R T H
II~"IE I N E M A N N
Tourism Management, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 237-246, 1995
Copyright © 1995 Elsevier Science Ltd
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved
0261-5177/95 $10.00 + 0.00
Reports
Macau: gambling on its future?
Macau & Portugal's last remaining Asian territory. Situated opposite
Hong Kong at the mouth of the Pearl River delta, the enclave will be
returned to Chinese administration in 1999. Since the sovereignty agreement was signed in 1987, Macau has been changing rapidly. An
international airport will open in 1996 and by the end of the decade the
enclave will have expanded its land size by 25%. Until now, Macau's
tourism industry has been linked with its legalized gambling industry. The
international airport and the economic growth of the region have created
new opportunities for the tourism industry in this tiny enclave. However,
with China's aversion to legalized gambling, and with various other
contentious issues leading up to the handover of Macau, a question mark
now hangs over the future direction of its tourism industry.
During Portugal's colonial eastward
expansion, a series of trading outposts
was set up. Bahrain was established in
the Middle East, Goa in India, Malacca in Malaysia and Macau in China.
Today, Macau is the last remaining
Asian Portuguese enclave - sitting
opposite Hong Kong at the mouth of
China's Pearl River delta. Like Hong
Kong it will also become a Special
Administrative Region (SAR) within
the P e o p l e ' s R e p u b l i c of C h i n a
(PRC), though this will happen on 20
December 1999, about two and a half
years after Hong Kong is handed back
to Chinese administration.
Macau has been an official Portuguese trading post since 1557, making
it a considerably older colonial outpost than Hong Kong, which was not
established by the British until 1841.
Macau consists of a peninsula of the
mainland and the two islands of Coloane and Taipa. Technically it is
Asia's most densely populated territory, with a land size of just 18.7 km 2
and a population of nearly 400 000.
Set up as a trading centre, Macau has
traditionally been a conduit for China,
re-exporting textiles and garments.
However, this has changed rapidly in
recent years, as tourism has taken
more prominence in its economy. Currently without an airport, Macau has
been dependent on visitor arrivals
making the one-hour jet-foil journey
from Hong Kong, or crossing by land
from China. With various forms of
gambling being legal in Macau, and
illegal in Hong Kong and China, the
mainstay of its tourism industry can be
attributed to gambling. This has
meant that Macau has mainly
attracted day-trip and short-stay tourism. So while Macau received 7.7 million visitors in 1993, the average
length of stay was only 1.3 nights. It is
also recognized that approximately
85% of all visitors visit Macau primarily to gamble.
Has 'the sleepy little enclave'
woken up?
For years Macau was viewed as being
a sleepy little enclave, and a final
remnant of an old world order in Asia.
Its domination by its newer, bigger
and brasher colonial brother of Hong
Kong has been all too obvious.
Macau's development has been held
back by its small size and its more
recent lack of strategic importance to
Portugal. In fact, during the last 12
years, Portugal has even twice attempted to give Macau back to China.
Finally, in 1987, it was decided to
return the sovereignty to China, but to
leave the colony under Portuguese
administration until 1999.
Given the lack of certainty in
Macau's future during the 1970s and
most of the 1980s, there was little
incentive for either Portugal, Hong
Kong or China to invest in Macau's
future. Following the 1987 SinoP o r t u g u e s e s o v e r e i g n t y decision,
Macau has seen a variety of significant
infrastructural developments that will
see a tremendous change and growth
of its tourism industry by the year
2000.
In the lead-up to the handover to
C h i n e s e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n in 1999,
Macau is focusing on becoming an
Asian trading and tourism centre.
Two important developments are taking place. First, Macau will be opening
an i n t e r n a t i o n a l a i r p o r t in 1996.
Second, it is expected to expand its
land size by some 25% by 1999. While
Macau's transition to Chinese administration has so far been smoother
than Hong Kong's, many issues remain unsettled. As Andrews 1
observed, 'What makes Macau unique
in Asia, however, is its casinos . . .
[but] it is unclear what China's attitude to gambling after 1999 will be'.
Much of the current development and
investment in Macau's tourism industry is based on the premise that Macau
will remain the only gambling centre
in the region. However, as will be
discussed, this is not necessarily such a
'safe bet' as it may at first appear.
Macau and gambling
Gambling has always been a fact of
life in Macau, and it has been legal
since a licensing system was introduced in the 1850s. However, it was
often corruptly run and poorly controlled. In order to control the activities better and to gain more government revenue, the first monopoly on
237
Reports
Table I
Arrivals by nationality, 1993
Nationality
Arrivals 1993
% of arrivals
Hong Kong
East Asiaa
SE Asiab
Americas
Europe
Oceania
Others
Total
6 050 665
876 246
197 854
130 893
228 417
53 075
141 450
7 701 007
78.7
11.3
2.6
1.7
2.9
0.9
1.9
100
Growth of the hotel industry
Notes: aEast Asia includes South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, PR China; bSE Asia includes
Philippines, Indonesia~ Malaysia, Thailand.
Source: Macau, Census and Statistics Department.
gambling rights was given to the Tai
Xing Company in 1934.
In 1962, Sociedade de Turismo e
Diversoes de Macau (STDM) was
awarded the government franchise to
run Macau's casino industry. From
modest beginnings in the Estoril
Hotel, this group, controlled by Hong
Kong's magnate Stanley Ho, currently
has a monopoly lock on the nine casino gambling sites until 2011. Perhaps
the most well known and largest is the
Lisboa Hotel, which offers a variety of
Chinese gambling games, as well as
baccarat, blackjack and slot machines.
The two more exclusive casinos are in
the Mandarin Oriental and the Hyatt
Regency hotels. Other casinos exist in
the Kingsway Hotel, the Holiday Inn,
the Palacio Pelota Basca, the Macau
Palace 'floating casino', Kam Pek and
the Victoria Casino. STDM also operates the other forms of gambling in
Macau, such as horse and greyhound
racing and various lotteries.
The STDM casino franchise licence
was re-negotiated in 1987, and the
company must now provide funds for
infrastructural projects. The company
also pays a 30% tax to the government
as well as yearly concessions fees. The
tax revenue from gambling has been
increasing rapidly over the last few
years. In 1993, STDM's gross taking
from the casinos, racing tracks and
lotteries amounted to some US$1.8
billion. The Macau government received more than US$550 million from
the betting taxes, representing some
51% of its total i n c o m e ] Furthermore, approximately 10% of the
workforce are directly employed in
the gambling industry.
Inevitably STDM now plays a cen-
238
tral role in the enclave, and all the
major projects under way in Macau
involve either STDM, or one of Stanley Ho's other companies. He is sometimes simply referred to as 'Macau
Inc'. Nevertheless, discovering the
true wealth generated from the casinos for the company is virtually impossible, and as Jolliffe 3 has acknowledged, 'real figures on the casino
group's gambling income remain difficult to discover'. In 1992, STDM profits (after taxes and various deductions) were reckoned to be at least
US$500 million.
Visitor arrivals
As can be seen in Table 1, 78% of all
arrivals come from Hong Kong, with
other East Asian countries (predominantly China) being the only other
significant market. Visitor arrivals to
Macau can be characterized as being
predominantly from Hong Kong, for
day trips and primarily to be involved
in gambling. As can be seen in Table
2, over the last five years the number
of tourists has increased by 43% from
5.6 million to 7.7 million - though
arrivals plateaued in 1993. The average length of stay during this time has
Table 2
been slowly decreasing, but did pick
up in 1993.
The hotel industry is currently in the
middle of a period of rapid expansion,
and several factors have given cause
for confidence to hotel investors.
First, a more secure political future
appears to have been settled for
Macau. Second, the impending opening of the international airport will
allow Macau to become a convenient
entry point to China. Third, the airport will also allow Macau to become
a more substantial destination in its
own right. Given the present uniqueness of Macau's gambling industry in
East Asia, the airport will allow direct
access to gamblers from across the
region. Anticipating increased demand, the hotel industry has responded by opening numerous new
properties.
As can be seen in Table 3, between
1988 and 1993 there was a substantial
change in the profile of Macau's hotel
industry. The steady reduction in the
number of cheaper rooms in the older
guest houses and inns has been more
than offset by the arrival of a number
of larger i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y b r a n d e d
hotels, such as the Hyatt Regency, the
Westin Resort, the Mandarin Oriental, the New Century and the Holiday
Inn. During the period 1988-93, the
number of four- and five-star hotel
rooms has increased by 90% and the
number of three-star rooms has increased by 190%. At the end of 1993,
Macau was able to offer an average of
7769 rooms per day, at 103 registered
properties, an expansion alone of over
20% over 1992.
The recent expansion of the industry is causing some industry observers
Total arrivals and length of stay, 1988-93
Year
Arrivals
(millions)
Length of stay
(no of nights)
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
5.6
5.9
6.0
7.6
7.7
1.41
1.37
1.36
1.28
1.34
Source: Macau, Census and Statistics Department.
Tourism Management 1995 Volume 16 Number 3
Reports
Table 3 Daily available hotel rooms in Macau, by category, 1989-93
Hotels
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
4 and 5 star
3 star
1 and 2 star
Othe~
2145
752
853
1058
4808
67%
2179
924
860
1044
5007
69%
2177
930
795
1012
4915
71%
2742
1891
895
851
6379
64%
4001
2059
954
755
7769
54%
Total rooms
Occupancy
Note: alncludes guest houses and inns.
Source: Macau, Census and Statistics Department.
to question the speed and prudence of
such optimism. However, as Walker 4
acknowledges, 'while the sceptics talk
of Macau's over-building, the enclave's optimistic developers have
announced tentative plans for another
20 more properties. These cover the
range from a 21-room pension to a
699-room, five star hotel. If all projects come to fruition, Macau's room
count will be boosted by an extra
4 704 rooms.' Nevertheless, the expansion of the hotel and casinos industry has not been without its problems.
First, with the hotels being opened
and the airport not being open, occupancy rates have slipped and room
rates are increasingly competitive. In
1992 the company rate was 64%, but
this slumped to 54% in 1993.
Second, Macau has had a problem
with staffing the hotels and casinos of
its rapidly growing industry. Luis De
Heredia, Director of the Macau Hotel
School, noted that 'We are facing a
chronic shortage of trained staff.
You'll always find someone, but it is
difficult to find quality people, people
trained to serve. '~ Macau has permitted considerable numbers of workers
to be imported, particularly from China, into its territory. But several
hotels have admitted that there have
been many complaints about the poor
quality of service, and guests not
being understood by the foreign
employees.
construction p r o j e c t s
backed by grants from STDM.
government
ferry terminal, and the 4.4 km MacauTaipa Friendship Bridge have already
been completed. Both projects were
M a c a u International A i r p o r t
The first of these major projects is the
new airport development. The airport
is being constructed on reclaimed land
just off the coast of Taipa island.
Connected to Macau by the recently
completed Friendship Bridge, the airport is also being developed by the
government (51%), STDM (37%) and
other investors (22%) at a cost of
US$900 million. The 24-hour airport
will be the first airport that Macau has
Expansion of Macau
Three new major infrastructure projects are currently underway in Macau
(see Figure 1). These projects will not
only expand the city, but will also
substantially change its tourism industry. Recently, various other projects
such as the new Macau-Hong Kong
The proposed reclamation plans in Macau
Source: Eastern Express, 1994.
Figure 1
Tourism Management 1995 Volume 16 Number 3
239
Reports
ever had, and will initially be capable
of handling 4.5 million passengers a
year, increasing to 7.8 million by 2010.
One question is, will the airport be
able to attract international airlines?
Air traffic is still growing substantially
across the Asia-Pacific region.
Boeing's 1994 World Market Outlook
expects air traffic to grow at an annual
rate of 5.2% to the end of the decade,
with 40% of the world growth in airline traffic in the Asia-Pacific region.
Boeing cited reasons for the strong
growth in Asian tourism as coming
from rising incomes, increasing business activity, increasing leisure time
and c h a n g i n g l i f e s t y l e s . 6 M a c a u
should be well positioned to take
advantage of these trends. Air service
agreements have already been
reached with Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. Draft
agreements with the USA, Brazil,
New Zealand, Australia and various
Asian countries are being prepared.
The government of Macau is also
planning to launch a new airline, tentatively known as Air Macau, as a
regional carrier. It is expected to be
jointly managed by Portugal's TAP
and China's C A A C airlines. Initially it
would be anticipated to serve Asian
destinations, such as Japan, South
Korea and Thailand.
Currently there is a rapid expansion
of airport capacity in the immediate
region. Given that the present Kai
Tak airport in Hong Kong is so congested, and that the new Chep Lap
Kok is not now expected to open until
1998, Macau can exploit this two-year
window of opportunity. As Pinto
Sousa of Macau Airport Company
(CAM) has noted, 'Zhuhai is a domestic airport, Shenzhen is not yet operating international flights, Guangzhou is
over-loaded and moving to a new site
and Kai Tak is already over capacity.
We do hope for the overflow from Kai
Tak but it was never our intention to
compete with Chep Lap Kok.'7 Nevertheless, there will be an increase of
competition for airlines within a radius
of 100 km once the other airports are
operational. Macau is hoping to establish itself as a viable alternative gateway to China. Already the airport is
proposing to have dedicated immigration desks for those travelling straight
240
through to southern China, cutting out
much of the inconvenience currently
experienced in Hong Kong.
Nam Van Lakes
The second major development project is the Nam Van Lakes project on
the Macau mainland. The project was
begun in 1992, but is not expected to
be completed until the end of the
century. The Nam Van Lakes project
includes filling in much of the Praia
Grande Bay, and creating two artificial lakes. It alone will increase the
land space of mainland Macau by 1.3
km 2 (about 20%) and will cost approximately US$1.5 billion. Once completed it will offer a total of 1.4 million
m 2 of municipal, hotel, retail and residential space. As Jorge Carvalho
Pereira, Nam Van's Financial Manager, has noted, 'this is a natural expansion of the heart of town . . . This
project will enable Macau to solve the
environmental problem it was facing
here in the very front zone of the city,
the old "noble" part of town. 's Once
again this project is headed up by
Stanley Ho, the head of STDM.
The Cotai Reclamation Project
The third infrastructure project is a
massive land r e c l a m a t i o n project
which will join the islands of Taipa
and Coloane. The new land mass,
provisionally known as Cotai, will include a new town, and a railway link
to the Chinese mainland. It is expected that the total cost will be about
US$2 billion and will take at least five
years to complete. The new town will
allow Macau to expand its population
by a further 150 000 residents, which
s o m e v i e w as e s s e n t i a l . M a n y
businesses see that Macau needs to
expand its population in order to compete as an 'international' city, particularly given the developments of its
hinterland in the Pearl River Delta
region. 9
A question that is often posed is:
where does the money come from to
pay for these infrastructural developments and improvements? Secretary
for Administration, Education and
Youth Affairs, Jorge Rangel, noted
that, 'Some of it comes from gambling
of course: the terms of the franchise
with STDM means that a large prop-
ortion of betting profits are ploughed
back in to Macau. But a lot of money
comes from the new scheme of land
auctions introduced by the new governor . . . The government started
selling all the saleable land by auction,
which raised millions. And when there
was no more land to sell, it started
auctioning off water [for land reclamation]' (the rest has come from mainland China investors). 1° The project
works are being undertaken by Construcoes Tecnicas (CT), a troubled
Portuguese construction company,
which is 15% owned by STDM. Given
the involvement of the company with
n e a r l y all the m a j o r p r o j e c t s in
Macau, the company had to be rescued by Stanley Ho in 1994, who now
has joint ownership with the Portuguese parent company.
A major concern has been for the
conservation of the historical aspects
of Macau. O v e r l o o k e d for many
years, much of its architectural heritage has been left in disrepair. Luis
Durao, the architect and head of the
Cultural Institute, acknowledges that
with the return to China in 1999 developers are prepared to demolish
whatever they see standing in the way
of progress. 12 The government has
slowly recognized this. As Jorge Carvalho Pereira, from the Nam Van
development, went on to point out,
'The government has imposed on us a
very high standard of construction.
This was the first time in Macau that
not only the basic plan but the shape
and the quality of the exterior of the
building was set out in an official
gazette'Y Furthermore, in 1988 the
Orient Foundation was set up, 'to
carry out activities of a cultural, educational, artistic, scientific, social and
philanthropic nature'. It was set up
with an initial amount of US$27 million from STDM, US$1.20 million per
year and 1.6% of STDM's gambling
profits annually. 3 So far, the Foundation has financed the restoration of the
central Leal Senado Square next to
the Senate, the Dom Pedro V Theatre
and has sponsored a variety of other
cultural projects. However, the Orient
Foundation is channelling money not
only into Macau but also to the other
former Portuguese colonies. As Joao
Manual Amorim, the Lisbon based
Tourism Management 1995 Volume 16 Number 3
Reports
Director of the Orient Foundation,
noted, 'we spend 60 or 70 percent of
the funds on projects in Macau and
the rest in places like India (Goa),
Malacca and Portugal'. m This has
already become a major source of
friction between the Chinese and Portuguese governments•
Challenges facing Macau
In the past Macau has tried to differentiate itself from the bright lights
and fast pace of Hong Kong. One of
its slogans has been 'A touch of
Europe in the heart of Asia'. But, as
Boey 13 has noted, 'Macau still suffers
from an image problem. It has difficulty shaking off its seedy image - a
by-product of the gambling (and
associated activities) which is still the
main draw - and visitors for the major
part are still day-trippers'. The 'associated activities' connected with gambling in Macau are primarily prostitution and crime, both of which have
been growing. It is currently believed
that there are some 20(X) prostitutes
from Thailand, Russia and other
Asian countries who legally enter
Macau under the labour importation
scheme - to work officially as masseuses and hostesses in local nightspots• Prostitution activities have been
becoming increasingly overt in the enclave. However, in line with the increase in prostitution, the number of
AIDS cases in Macau has been increasing rapidly and 70 cases have
been detected since 1986, with 80% of
them being female•14
An increase in crime has also been a
feature of what is becoming modern
Macau. It is believed that there are
hundreds of triad-controlled loansharks prowling the casinos offering
loans to gamblers on a losing streak.
Those who fall prey are usually kidnapped by the gangs and held until a
ransom is paid by their family. ~5 More
daring crimes are also on the increase•
For example on 12 May 1994 a heavily
armed gang raided the casino in the
Hyatt Regency Hotel, and escaped
from the hotel in less than three minutes with US$4.2 million in gambling
chips and cash.
In the short term gambling will undoubtedly continue to be the primary
reason for visitors to come to Macau.
But it also has the potential to be a
constant source of friction - if for no
other reason than because of the existence of the Portuguese-based Orient
Foundation and the revenues it receives from gambling. By 1993, the
Foundation's assets were already estimated to be worth some US$270 mill i o n . H o w e v e r , as Jolliffe 3 has
observed, the Chinese see 'the Foundation as a conduit for capital flight
from Macau magnate Stanley Ho's
gambling empire'. In an attempt to
stem the loss of capital after 1999, the
Chinese g o v e r n m e n t could either
award licences to other operators or
revoke STDM's licence.
Obviusly, Macau's tourism industry
is still currently overly dependent on
gambling. Furthermore, the enclave is
perhaps also unique in not only having
one company, but one person, so
deeply involved in all its tourism projects. As the Macau Tourist Information Bureau acknowledges, 'Stanley
Ho's STDM is the major player in
Macau's hotel and tourism industry as
well as community and cultural affairs.
• . . The extraordinary success of this
tiny Portuguese territory is built principally on the far-sighted concepts of
S t a n l e y Ho a n d his g a m b l i n g
industry. ' ~ But the reliance on
STDM, and the potential friction that
could occur between STDM and the
Chinese government, could destabilize the whole of its tourism industry
and the promise it holds for the future.
As tourism continues to develop
and grow within Asia, and the economic potential of gambling is recognized, other countries or cities may
reconsider their legislation on gambling. Vietnam is one of the most rapidly developing countries in the region,
and its tourism industry holds new
promise for the future since the US
embargo was lifted in early 1994.
Anticipating this move and the potential for a massive increase in tourist
arrivals, it has been looking for partners to help it develop its gambling
industry. Perhaps not surprisingly,
given the uncertainties of the future
for gambling after 1999 in Macau,
STDM has already entered into a
joint-investment project with the Vietnamese government in Haiphong.
Tourism Management 199_5Volume 16 Number 3
STDM is now believed to have invested some US$20 million in the 16table joint venture and its 250-room
hotel. 17
Clearly gambling should not be the
only focus that Macau's tourism
should have. Antonio Salavessa da
Costa, Macau's under-secretary for
Tourism, Culture and Communication, noted that gambling was, 'just
one of the attractions of Macau on a
par with its r e s t a u r a n t s and its
architectural and human heritage that
are unique in the world'.l~ However,
given that 85% of tourists come primarily for the gambling, it is doubtful
that the territory could retain much of
its tourism industry if its gambling
industry did not exist. Slowly the territory has tried to diversify its tourism
product. An international fireworks
festival is held every year, a marathon
and grand prix races have been
started, and a golf tournament and a
new arts festival have been initiated.
But the focus and image of its tourism
still remains firmly on its gambling
industry.
Macau is also going to have to consider its relationship with its immediate neighbour. Sitting adjacent to the
border with China is the Special Economic Zone of Zhuhai, which is currently seen as no more than a new
industrial city. However, Zhuhai is
also looking to balance out its economy and to develop its tourism industry. It is looking to host various
cultural and sporting events, as well as
investing heavily in its infrastructure
to improve its accessibility. Zhuhai
has been continuously adding to its
hotel supply, and is planning to add
four five-star hotels over the next few
years. A replica of the Beijing Summer Palace is to be built, along with a
new theme park. In June 1994, the
first Chinese Dragon Film Festival was
held in an attempt to position the city
as the 'Cannes of China'. I'~ Meanwhile, the city is also looking to build
up its reputation on sporting events.
As Barrie Gill, Chairman of CSS Int e r n a t i o n a l , pointed out, 'worldranked snooker and one-day cricket
would pave the way towards a Formula One grand prix at Zhuhai within six
years'. 2°
In terms of infrastructural develop-
241
Repor~
GUANGZHOU
CHINA
~
~ Shiloncen
\
~'x~H~uang r a o ~ Dongg Iian
Proposed
/F'~.~
\
,
Fo Shan
~
Huangge
I
\
Shenzhen Special
!
!
l iangmeln
I
|
I
Zhongshan
,
Tai
Pr°p°sed~l
Railway I
Chek Lap,.Kok ~"e.~ ~( o
(__7~
I
I
6
MA%AU
o
E)
0
o~7c~
Island
O
Figure 2 Infrastructure plans for the Pearl River delta
Source: Macau International Airport, 1993.
ments, Zhuhai has recently opened a
new d o m e s t i c a i r p o r t on Sanzao
('Three Stoves') island, just 30 km
from Macau. Already a new carrier,
Zhuhai Airlines has been established.
The carrier is closely linked with the
airport development, as 40% of the
equity is owned by the Zhuhai Municipal G o v e r n m e n t . 21 With Macau
focusing on international flights and
Zhuhai focusing on domestic Chinese
flights, the two airports could compliment each other. However, the Zhuhai airport has also been built to international standards and is eventually
looking to offer international services.
In addition, Zhuhai will eventually
have better access to Hong Kong than
Macau does. The first part of an eightlane road link across the Pearl River
Delta linking Hong Kong directly to
Zhuhai has already been built. 22 It is
therefore conceivable that eventually
Zhuhai, with its airport and road
242
links, could present itself as more of
competitor than a compliment to the
airport and tourism-related developments in Macau.
Future strategies
It is likely that the enclave is going to
have to try and operate two strategies
simultaneously. On the one hand, it
needs to integrate itself into the development of the region and obtain a
sufficient share of the mainstream
growth of tourism in the Pearl River
delta. On the other hand, it needs to
carve out a niche for itself and retain a
uniqueness of its own.
As Hobson and Ko 23 have already
observed about the development of
the Pearl delta region, 'Looking to the
future it is almost inevitable that new
political realities will demand that a
comprehensive triangular regional
tourism strategy will be initiated'.
With the connections of the bridge
across the Pearl Delta linking the border city of Zhuhai to Hong Kong, it is
quite possible that Macau will become
part of the new Pearl Delta megalopolis (see Figure 2). Macau's airport and
the adjacent Ka-Ho container terminal on the present Coloane island will
be linked by a 13.3 km double railway
track to Zhuhai and Guangzhou (Canton) and the new Gaolan port 50 km
to the south. Leonel Miranda, Head
of Planning and Co-operation Bureau,
n o t e d that this was p a r t of the
'strategy to integrate Macau into the
economic zone of the Pearl River
delta'. 24
Already these infrastructural developments are shaping the future of
tourism policies and initiatives. In late
1993, the Macau Government Tourist
Association (MGTA) announced that
it would be cooperating with the Hong
Kong Tourist Association (HKTA)
and the Guandong Provincial Tourism
Bureau (GPTB) to market the Pearl
River Delta as a new tourism product.
Eugene Sullivan, the H K T A Executive Director, noted that, 'Sharing a
similar historical background, and
with the increasing number of visitors
travelling between our destinations
. . . it is therefore logical that we
should take this step towards marketing these three diverse places to the
rest of the world under one umbrella
. . . It signifies a new cooperative
m a r k e t i n g a p p r o a c h , designed to
maximise the tourism potential of the
entire area and bring greater benefits
to all of us. ,25
The second part of the strategy is
for Macau to establish a niche for
itself. It is currently obvious for gambling to be the focus. But, given the
uncertainties facing the future of
Macau, this may be more problematic
than it first appears. For many years, a
question mark has been hanging over
the future of gambling in the enclave.
Article 118 of the Macau Basic Law,
which will form part of the enclave's
political constitution after the resumption of Chinese administration, states
that, 'The Macau SAR shall, on its
own, carry out policies on tourism and
recreation in light of its overall interests'. Gambling is not specifically
mentioned, and until recently there
Tourism Management 1995 Volume 16 Number 3
Reports
has been little overt support from the
Chinese government for the industry.
China has recently experimented with
some forms of gambling in its southern
provinces, but has cracked down on it
again because of corruption and poor
management. But it is increasingly
being recognized that gambling is important to the future tourism development and financial security of Macau.
In May 1994, the director of the China
National Tourism Administration, Liu
Yi, stated that gambling was 'fundamental for the future progress and
development of Macau'. 18 This was
the first and only time that a senior
mainland official had directly expressed any support for Macau's gambling
industry.
Conclusion
Looking to the future, there are many
uncertainties for Macau. Not only are
the details of the actual handover to
Chinese sovereignty going to present
some problems, but Macau's longterm monopoly on gambling could be
under threat. In an attempt to boost
government revenues, the post-1997
SAR government in Hong Kong, or
even China's Guangdong provincial
government, could legalize gambling.
The primary reason to visit Macau
would quickly evaporate, and Macau
could become like Malacca or Goa - a
shadow of its former self. In addition,
Vietnam, which is less than two hours'
flying time from Hong Kong, could
also provide future competition.
In conclusion, basing the future of
M a c a u ' s tourism industry on the
promise of its gambling industry may
not be the 'safe bet' it was once
thought to be. For the future developm e n t of the tourism industry in
Macau, the enclave needs to develop
the other attributes it has. Only in this
way can Macau realistically achieve a
better balance of markets for the longterm development of its tourism industry.
J S Perry Hobson
Centre for Tourism
Southern Cross University,
PO Box 157
Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia
References
1Andrews J (1993) Pocket Asia Economist
Publications, London, 106
2Bruning, H 'Record for casinos' Eastern
Express 1994 (1 July) 6
3jolliffe, J 'Macau's not-so-private little
war' Eastern Express 1994 (14 June) Section Two, 13
4Walker, R "Hotels' Macau Tourist Information Bureau, Backgrounder 1994
(February) 1
5Eager, M 'Macau hoteliers in call for
labour importation scheme' South China
Morning Post 1992 (8 August)
6porter, B 'Recession delays need for new
aircraft' South China Morning Post 1994 (1
June) Business, 8
7Walker, R 'Macau international airport"
Macau Tourist Information Bureau, Backgrounder 1994 (January) 4
S'Nam Van' Fortune Advertisement Section (1994)
9Bruning, H 'Nod likely for huge Macau
expansion' Eastern Express 1994 (23 May)
6
l°Finlay, V 'The biggest gamble" South
China Morning Post 1994 (23 May) 6
~Jolliffe, J and Lee, W 'Ho acts to avert
airport threat' Eastern Express 1994 (6
June) Business, 25
~2Barnett, C 'Preserving the past in style'
Eastern Express 1994 (14 June) Section
Two, 13
~3Boey, C 'Moving ahead' Pacific Asia
Travel Association News 1994 (May) 32-34
~4'Macau AIDS up' South China Morning
Post 1994 (27 May) 3
15Bruning, H 'Loansharks captured' Eastern Express 1994 (4 June) 6
t6Walker, R 'Gambling' Macau Tourist Information Bureau, Backgrounder 1994
(February) 1
17Torode, G 'Ho to play major card in
Vietnam' South China Morning Post 1993
(18 November) 8
tSBruning, H 'Beijing backs Macau casinos' Eastern Express 1994 (9 May) 15
19Bruning, H and Gilley, B 'Tragedies mar
tour by Jiang' Eastern Express 1994 (20
June) 1
2°Tait, P 'F1 on way to Zhuhai circuit'
Eastern Express 1994 (22 June) Sport, 25
21Bruning, H 'Airports in Macau, Zhuhai
to take off' Eastern Express 1994 (9 March)
9
22Zavadszky, A 'Zhuhai presses on with
tourism infrastructure' Travel News Asia
1994 (26 May) ITE Daily supplement, 10
23Hobson, J and Ko, G 'Tourism and politics: The implications of the change in
sovereignty on the future development of
Hong Kong's tourism industry" J Travel
Research 1994 32 (4) 2-8
24Stoner, T and Bruning, H 'Full speed
ahead for travellers in Macau' Eastern Express 1994 (7 February) 17
-~SLee, C 'Territory joins plans for tourism
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Planning for sustainable tourism
development in the Med
The H u m a n Settlements Committee o f the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe held its 18th Meeting o f Experts on H u m a n
Settlements Problems in Southern Europe in Nicosia, Cyprus, 6-8 June
1994. The key theme o f discussion concerned the problems and prospects
o f planning for sustainable tourism in Mediterranean countries. Conference delegates were primarily national government officials concerned
with the planning and management o f natural and human habitats in their
respective countries.
The opening session was chaired by
His Excellency, Mr G Clerides, President of the Republic of Cyprus. He
noted that human settlements and
tourism were becoming increasingly
i n t e r - l i n k e d , p a r t i c u l a r l y in the
Mediterranean, and trying to enhance
local quality of life while maintaining
resource integrity was a significant
topic of discussion. The results of the
meeting's deliberations, he felt, would
have far-reaching implications not
only for the experts but for the plan-
Tourism Management 1995 Volume 16 Number 3
ners and politicians who will have to
act on policies for the future.
Mr K Leonhardt, Chief of the
Human Settlements Division of the
UN-ECE, concluded the opening session, noting several issues facing human settlements in the Mediterranean
directly and indirectly related to tourism. Out-migration of younger generations from rural to urban areas
represented a real threat to village
settlements. He felt the social and
economic activity generated by tour-
243