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Not just for tourists, the city is turning into the Asian destination for meetings

Macau used to be a half-day stopover  for businessmen attending three-day conferences in Hong Kong.

Now, the city of 450,000 people is fast becoming a stand-alone attraction,  luring meetings and conventions away from the usual locations such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Phuket.

'In the past, people knew of Macau as a nice place but were concerned about safety. Luckily, the violence has been thoroughly and consistently cleaned up,' said Daniela Grendene,  general manager of Shun Tak Hospitality Services. The group oversees the Macau Tower complex, the city's largest and most modern  convention centre.

Less crime may partly explain the island's attraction. A more compelling reason is cost - Macau is a bargain.

Holding a meeting in Macau is 40 per cent cheaper than in Hong Kong by Ms Grendene's estimate, largely because the venue, hotels and transportation are all less  expensive.  Even the most extravagant  hotel in Macau, the Westin Resort, is seeing  big growth in its meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibition - or 'mice' - business.

Last year's mice business was up 33 per cent from the year before, said hotel spokesman Eric Chan. The first quarter of this year saw year-on-year growth of 20 per cent.  Clients at mice events were also staying a day longer on average, he said. The rising demand may also be fuelled by the easier access to travel visas now enjoyed by mainland businesspeople.

'This is particularly important for multinational corporations  organising global events in Macau,' Mr Chan said. 'The easing of restrictions for their Chinese colleagues is one of the factors in swinging mice events to Macau.'

Other meeting planners in Macau attribute the growth to the government's efforts in preserving the island's environment and heritage.

'We can have a gala dinner at Monte Fort, outdoors, with lots of open space,' said Liz Thomas, who for 21 years has run Imagination, a meeting and incentive planning consultancy in Macau, with her husband Graham Blakey. Work was non-stop these days, they said.

'Macau is small. You get to know everybody and you get to be more flexible,' Mr Blakey said. 'When it rains, we have arrangements with the museums so we can do a treasure hunt there.'

Taking a cue from  Las Vegas, the Asian gaming hub also wants to bring in world-class trade shows and conventions. Towards this end,  the Tourist Office has plans to build for the first time a promotions team targeting overseas mice business.

Although Macau is thriving as a  destination for meetings and conferences, there is a  shortage of suitable venues. Last October, the city's largest trade show could only fit  278 booths. All the space at the Macau Tower was already in use.

If a more spacious venue had been available, 500 to 700 more booths could have been opened for the show, according to Jackson Chang, an executive director of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute.

'In terms of venues, we are not ready yet,' Mr Chang admitted.  'At the moment, we  help a lot of Macau businesses attend trade shows overseas, much more than we pursue  overseas meetings for  Macau.'

The shortage of space should be solved in a few years.

The Fisherman's Wharf is slated to open early next year. It features a 30,000 sq ft convention hall which can host banquets of up to 3,500 people.

By November of next year,  after the 4th East Asian Games,  the East Asian Games Dome - known as the 'Macau Egg' - will become available for conventions of up to 2,000 people.

The Venetian Macau, the Las-Vegas-based firm that opened the Sands casino last month,  is expected to furnish Macau with world-class  facilities for meetings and conventions in its mega resorts by June 2009.

Macau should also get a boost from the expansion of the Macau International Airport into the low-cost flight market - the first AirAsia flight from Macau to Bangkok will be launched on July 5.

Hyatt Regency Macau sales director Cecilia Chan expects increased accessibility and budget travel to enhance the city's profile as an affordable and convenient  destination for meetings and conventions.

'This is a landmark development,' she said. 'Macau will become a popular spot because so many people can get there within three hours' flying time.'



Macau bucks the convention trade with cheap deals