Macau plans to organise public events to showcase the city’s food, from street fare to fine dining, as it exploits its reputation as one of only six Chinese cities recognised by the United Nations for its gastronomic offerings, said the city’s tourism chief.
“A lot of people travel to Macau just to have a special meal, or a special experience [at a] restaurant here,” Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), said in an interview. “There are possibilities to work with community associations, and non-government organisations to create more interesting events in the small districts for tourists to explore local culture.”
Macau was listed as a “City of Gastronomy” in 2017 by Unesco, along with the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu, Shunde and Chaozhou in Guangdong province and the Jiangsu provincial cities of Yangzhou and Huaian.
The focus on food underscores how the casino hub is trying to diversify its economy from its biggest tax revenue contributor. Macau, the only city on Chinese soil that legalises casinos, last year ordered its six gambling concessionaires to invest more than 100 billion patacas (US$12.37 billion) on non-gambling attractions over the next decade, under the terms of their licences.
The concessionaires are building new arenas to house conventions, concerts, shows and large sports events, as well as developing health and community tourism.
“The cultural development of the creative gastronomy industry is an important element in enhancing the attractiveness and competitiveness of cities and a new innovation in the transformation of urban industries,” Qin Changwei, the Secretary General of the Chinese National Commission for Unesco, said in a recorded speech during the International Gastronomy Forum.
The Creative Cities Network is Unesco’s flagship project, which aims to promote the sustainable development of cities through innovation and creativity, and actively promote international cooperation, he added. Currently, 18 cities in China have joined the network, which covers craft and folk art, design, film and gastronomy.
Hong Kong is not in the Unesco’s Creative Cities Network. Still, 79 of the city’s restaurants received Michelin stars in 2024, compared with 16 in Macau.
The International Cities of Gastronomy Fest Macau, which began on June 14, will carry on through June 23. The forum, part of the programme during the 10-day festival, was an annual event between 2016 and 2019. It was revived this year for the first time since the pandemic.
The director of Macau’s tourism office saw changes in consumption in the post-pandemic era, including fewer group travel tours and a younger span of audience.
“People want more personalised and very different experiences every time they come to Macau,” Fernandes said. “One of the interesting things about a younger audience coming to Macau is they are more adventurous. They want to try out more local things, more possibilities of bringing them, not only to the tourist areas, but also to traditionally non-tourist areas as well.”
Gastronomy, an important part of the tourism experience in Macau, “reinforces the city’s [position] as a global metropolis,” she added.
