The National Congress of the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies 2025 will be held in Macao, it was officially announced yesterday (June 30) by the association in a ceremony at the 11th Macao International Travel (Industry) Expo. Considered the main annual gathering of the Portuguese tourism industry, the congress is set to provide an opportunity to showcase Macao’s new “tourism +” offerings and help to boost the diversification of visitor source markets.

Among the participants at the announcement ceremony was the Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR Government, Lei Wai Nong, the President of the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (APAVT, from its Portuguese acronym), Pedro Costa Ferreira, the Chief of Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR Government, Ku Mei Leng, the Director of Trade Marketing of Portugal Tourism, Miguel Moraes, the Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, the APAVT Executive Director, Ricardo Figueiredo, among others.

In a speech at the occasion, MGTO Director, Maria Helena Senna Fernandes, remarked: “Following the success of the mega Macao tourism promotion in Lisbon, during the official visit of a Macao SAR Government delegation to Portugal in April, we are taking bold steps to enhance our tourism relations after the pandemic. We are glad to see the largest participation from Portugal ever at the Travel Expo this year and the expectation of welcoming hundreds of Portuguese travel trade for the congress provides tremendous impetus to our collaborative work to boost visitor flows.”

The APAVT President, Pedro Costa Ferreira, noted: “The congress in 2025 will bring a string of very fortunate numbers. It will be our 50th congress! It will be held in the year that APAVT celebrates 75 years! What is more, it will make Macao the city that most times hosted our congress, six in total, in a history of 50 years of the event. We appreciate MGTO’s extraordinary support and ability to accomplish, hence we are totally confident about the logistic arrangements in Macao.”

This year’s Macao International Travel (Industry) Expo, which runs until Sunday, has a stronger participation from Portugal. The national authority of tourism of Portugal, Tourism Portugal, has a Portugal Pavilion for the first time, there is also the debut of a Madeira Pavilion, while Santa Maria da Feira is part of the City of Gastronomy Showcase. APAVT also returned to the Travel Expo with a delegation of nearly 20 people, which also includes travel trade and tourism media. The delegation, invited by MGTO, will also visit the new tourism offerings in the city including hotels, gastronomy, heritage, culture, entertainment and other offerings already in preparation for the congress.

Congress to bring hundreds of Portuguese travel trade to Macao and help expand international visitor source markets

Established in 1950, APAVT is the most representative association of the Portuguese tourism industry, and over the years has played a fundamental role in boosting tourism relations with Macao. APAVT held its annual congress in Macao in 1982, 1990, 1996, 2008 and 2017. The return of the National Congress of APAVT, which attracts around 700 delegates each year, will showcase to Portuguese travel trade the new development of Macao as a world centre of tourism and leisure, and help to boost visitor flows, not only between Macao and Portugal, but also in multi-destination tourism, taking full advantage of the city’s role as a platform to promote exchanges between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.