Twinning for the win

A greater number of business events are anticipated to be created in the Guangdong-Macau In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin as more travel visas for business events participants are issued. The region is an administration that is jointly run by the Macau SAR government and the Guangdong Provincial government to develop Henqin Island, next to the city of Zhuhai.

Lawrence Ho, chairman & CEO of Melco Resorts and Entertainment, saw opportunity in attracting a greater number of “globally influential” sports events, meetings and exhibitions to Macau and co-hosting some of them with Hengqin to promote “two-centre” activities.

An easing of visa issuance for these event-goers and a more convenient “cross-border arrangement” should also be beneficial for Macau and Hengqin to develop into a tourism “hotspot”.

Late last year, Sands China followed the “One Event, Two Places” philosophy when it co-hosted the China (Macao) High-quality Consumption Exhibition & Hengqin Global Bay Areas Forum (CHCE), a mixed conference-exhibition business event in co-operation with the Nam Kwong Group, a mainland state-owned conglomerate based in the Macau SAR. Part of the conference programme was held in Hengqin, while the exhibition element was held at The Venetian Macao’s Cotai Expo. Six to eight MICE events will adopt this new model in 2023 and more are expected in the years to come.

Bruno Simões, managing director of DOC DMC Macau - Hong Kong and director of smallWORLD Experience, was sceptical of the advantages of co-hosting smaller events with a few hundred participants across two cities, due to the additional time taken for transportation and cross-border immigration formalities, but he saw promise in large-scale mega events, which would spread accommodation pressure across two destinations.

“The immigration process is simplified, and cross-border land traffic is easier. It would make sense for mega events, such as huge conventions with say 10,000-20,000 delegates,” he added.

Simões was also positive about the greater connectivity between Macau and Hengqin, part of enormous investment in rail and road infrastructure in the Greater Bay Area. He pointed to the construction of a line to Hengqin on Macau’s Light Rail Transport system, for example, which connects Taipa and the island zone, and a new extension which will connect Hengqin to the Guangzhou hub of China's high-speed rail network that stretches as far as Harbin in the country's northeast.