Semana de Macau em Lisboa (II)

Aqui ficam algumas imagens do espaço promocional de Macau no Centro Comercial Colombo, na capital portuguesa, integrado nas actividades da «Semana de Macau em Lisboa», que teve início na última sexta-feira e termina hoje.

Infelizmente, nas três vezes que por lá passei, o movimento não era muito. O calígrafo e o adivinho concentravam as atenções dos visitantes, mas julgo que a imagem de Macau merecia outra vitalidade num evento destes.

Além disso, dada a enorme comunidade de naturais de Macau e ex-residentes do território a viver actualmente em Lisboa, faria todo o sentido a organização de um evento aberto onde a comitiva do Chefe do Executivo pudesse receber os seus "concidadãos", à semelhança do que o consulado português costuma fazer quando membros do nosso Governo arribam àquelas paragens.

Pensões ilegais

Li esta norma da proposta de lei intitulada «Proibição de exploração de pensões ilegais», que o Governo da RAEM apresentou na Assembleia Legislativa (e, ao que parece, já foi aprovada na generalidade em 5 de Janeiro passado), e fiquei na dúvida se é um disparate pegado ou sou eu que não estou a ver bem as coisas...

Pelos vistos, para estarmos perante uma pensão ilegal, é preciso que se verifiquem cinco critérios cumulativos:
- Tratar-se de uma fracção autónoma não destinada a fins hoteleiros;
- Ser utilizada para proporcionar alojamento ao público;
- Os hóspedes serem maioritariamente não residentes;
- Não se conhecerem bem entre si; e
- Ocuparem a fracção com horas distintas de entrada ou de saída.

Ora, sem ter lido ainda o resto da proposta ou a sua nota justificativa (parei logo aqui...), pergunto-me: e se a maioria dos hóspedes for residente? A pensão passa a ser legal mesmo que todos os outros critérios fiquem preenchidos? E se forem não residentes, mas tiverem sido todos recrutados no mesmo lugar da mainland (numa aldeia ou numa fábrica, por exemplo) e, por isso, já se conhecerem bem? E se forem mainlanders a trabalhar todos no mesmo lugar em Macau (como é bem possível) e praticarem os mesmos horários de entrada e saída, mesmo que não se conhecessem antes?

Podia continuar, mas tenho que sair. Dão-se alvíssaras a quem me iluminar...

Nota: agradeço a simpática referência a esta posta no Delito de Opinião.

Semana de Macau em Lisboa

É já nesta sexta-feira que começa a semana de Macau em Lisboa, prolongando-se até quarta-feira seguinte. Uma óptima oportunidade para rever velhos amigos e matar saudades do Oriente.

O rival do Ocean Park que nunca passou do papel

A notícia abaixo reproduzida saiu no South China Morning Post de 18 de Março de 1997. Falava num parque temático que ia começar a ser construído em Junho desse ano, julgo que num terreno perto do Hotel New Century, na Taipa. Lembro-me de ver, há não muito tempo, os tapumes com o nome da atracção («Marine Park»). Julgo que ainda lá continuam.

Curiosamente, este senhor José Cheong Vai Chi, que surge na peça como presidente da entidade responsável pelo projecto, é o mesmo promotor imobiliário que processou a Las Vegas Sands por, alegadamente, a ter ajudado a obter uma das subconcessões de jogo em Macau e esta não lhe ter pago a prometida comissão. Certo é que acaba de receber, juntamente com os consultores de jogo Clive Jones e Darryl Turok, 42,5 milhões de dólares americanos das mãos de Sheldon Adelson para o caso não continuar em tribunal.

Será que é desta que o Marine Park de Macau avança? Duvido...

«Ocean Park faces rival in Macau

Jungle river rides, lasers shining off giant waterfalls, a waxworks museum and a mini-golf course are planned to attract another 1.5 million people a year to Macau, it was announced yesterday.

Hong Kong people will be targeted as visitors for the 1.2 billion pataca Macau Marine Park development on reclaimed land off Taipa Island.

More than 40 attractions are being built.

An artificial beach with palm trees and a shopping arcade will be set up next to the park.

Jose Cheong Vai-chi, president of Macau's Chong Va Entertainment said admission fees had not been fixed, but 'it will not be higher than Ocean Park in Hong Kong'. He said the 16-hectare park would attract an extra 1.5 million visitors to Macau each year, boosting the annual total to 10 million when it was completed in 1999.Mr Cheong said the project aimed to change the image of Macau's tourism industry.

It is expected more than 70 per cent of visitors to the park will come from the mainland, with the rest from Taiwan, Hong Kong and other parts of Southeast Asia.

'Hong Kong is one of our major targets,' said Mr Cheong. More than five million current visitors were from the territory, he added.

The park will create 2,500 jobs and is expected to break even in 2006. Construction begins in June.»

Turistas em queda

Beijing travel curbs, swine flu blamed for Macau visitor slump

Fox Yi Hu

South China Morning Post
June 26, 2009

The number of mainlanders visiting Macau independently last month fell by half from a year ago, a drop officials attribute to Beijing's travel policies and the swine flu scare.

A total of 791,394 mainland residents visited the city in May, down 26.8 per cent from a year ago, the Statistics and Census Bureau says. Those arriving through the Individual Visit Scheme, which allows travel independent from tour groups, dropped by 50.9 per cent to 316,111.

The bureau said swine flu had affected the total number of visitors last month, which fell 20.4 per cent to 1.59 million, a 17-month low.

Andy Wu Keng-kuong, president of the Travel Industry Council of Macau, said the flu scare was the main reason behind the drop in visitors. He said the number this month would probably remain as low as for May.

But economist and gaming analyst Zeng Zhonglu of Macau Polytechnic Institute said the flu scare was only a minor factor compared with Beijing's travel curbs on mainlanders visiting the city. He added that the shortening of the seven-day May holiday to three days also affected appetite for travel.

"Last May, travel restrictions on individual visitors had not been tightened," Professor Zeng said.

Beijing began to tighten restrictions on mainlanders visiting Macau last June in an apparent effort to stop civil servants gambling away public money.

From June 1 last year, Guangdong residents were restricted to visiting Macau once a month instead of once a fortnight. The travel limit was further tightened to once every two months in July and three months in October.

Since September 1, travellers to Hong Kong have had to get a separate permit to visit Macau.

Guangdong is a major market for Macau's gaming industry, accounting for 70 to 80 per cent of all Individual Visit Scheme travellers.

Beijing never formally announced the travel curbs and the press could only gauge their intensity through information travel agents and travellers provided. The strictness with which the curbs were enforced also seemed to vary from city to city.

This year, the curbs have shown signs of letting up for ordinary Guangdong residents but many civil servants are finding it more difficult to visit.

A government employee in Guangzhou, who declined to be named, said his Macau visits had been limited to once a year and any visit must be approved by his department head. A newly retired civil servant in Shenzhen said that despite his retirement, he was not allowed to visit Macau even once a year.

But some residents in Guangzhou and Zhuhai, who did not work in the government, said they had been given visas about a month apart.

Despite the low number of May visitors, Macau's casino revenue last month seemed to have held up well at 8.8 billion patacas, according to the Portuguese news agency Lusa.

The monthly income figure represents a 10 per cent decline from a year ago. Professor Zeng said the sharp decline in tourist arrivals and the slight contraction in gaming revenue showed that mainland visitors were spending more money on gambling per trip.

"Given the difficulty of coming to Macau, visitors tend to gamble away more money to satisfy their desire for gambling," he said.

Professor Zeng said Macau's VIP gaming market was recovering from the blows of the travel curbs and a credit crunch for junket operators - middlemen who bring in high-rollers and often extend credit to them.

The recovery was partially due to adaptation by high-rollers and junket operators to the travel curbs, he said. "People have gradually adapted and found ways around the restrictions."

Professor Zeng added that the mainland's huge stimulus plan, which pumped liquidity into the market, may have made it easier for gamblers to borrow.