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As home to some of Asia’s most iconic venues, Macau now has an inventory of new venues to keep MICE planners interested. By Michael Hoare
While big-ticket venues such as The Venetian’s cavernous Cotai Expo, Macau Fisherman’s Wharf Convention and Exhibition Centre, the Macau Forum and the Macau Tower Convention Centre grab the headlines for mega conventions and exhibitions, new venues are inching themselves into the vision of MICE planners with smaller events.
As Macau’s tourism industry moves into a more mature phase, the number of options available to planners for smaller MICE events is growing. It is part of the government’s drive to diversify the depth and quality of the attractions for business travellers.
On the Outer Harbour waterfront in central Macau, an iconic conical-shaped building is a stunning addition to the city’s skyline.
The newly opened Macau Science Centre, designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei whose masterpieces include the glass-and-steel pyramid for the Louvre museum in Paris, was first conceived in 2001 and built over a period of four years on reclaimed land.
The centre boasts 12 permanent galleries, 450 interactive exhibits, and a theatre with a tilted semi-dome screen nearly 15 meters in diameter, capable of screening three-dimensional movies.
The venue lures planners and MICE events with its 700m2 convention centre and four smaller meeting rooms.
Macau Science Centre education officer Sara Araújo says the facility is a wonderful addition for the city and she has high hopes for the meeting business that it should draw.
“I think this is something Macau needs,” she told TTGmice during an exclusive preview of the centre, but does not see the venue positioning itself against other established MICE facilities.
She said the centre is “smaller than Macau Tower but we have what it takes” to create a successful event.
Planners would likely agree. A sprawling 20,000m2 site for the planetarium, exhibit hall and meeting facilities, all surrounded by the harbour, gives planners plenty of space for creative events.
A bank of glass facing the water allows natural light to flow into the pre-event space in the convention centre’s foyer. The space is pillarless and connected to a landscaped plaza on one side and a waterfront boardwalk on the other.
Araújo says the boardwalk will become a main drawcard, with planners able to make use of the outdoor area for cocktails and break-out sessions, thanks in part to the impressive backdrop of neon-lit hotels in the city centre and Taipa.
Planners who require additional lighting and sound rigs for their event will find the 450-seater conference hall’s high, vaulted ceiling useful.
Above the hall are four meeting rooms that can accommodate groups of 16 to 80, and are fitted with high-end audio-visual equipment.
Although the centre was opened last December, convention facilities only formally came online at the end of January.
Still, the venue has already played host to Chinese president Hu Jintao who officiated the eve of the 10th anniversary of Macau’s return to China last December.
For now, Araújo said it was still early days for the venue and the management was still formulating policies that will determine the convention centre’s future use.
The new Macau Science Centre is not the only attraction for MICE planners seeking fresh venues in the destination.
The area around the new building – adjacent to the main ferry terminal and conveniently placed on a number of bus routes – is itself earning a reputation as a hub for smaller meetings, with a number of unique opportunities for planners.
Since its opening in 1999, the 45,000m2 Macao Cultural Centre has housed a clutch of unique venues for artistic events, conferences and exhibitions. It has a garden, two auditoriums – the biggest can seat more than 1,000 guests – and an Art Museum, with its own spaces for unique events including a mid-sized conference room.
Wynn Macau has also injected a new product into Macau. Opened in April, Encore, located adjacent to Wynn Macau, is a 414-key boutique hotel with suites and villas, as well as its own collection of dining and shopping outlets.
These new venues are a welcomed addition to Macau, said MICE planners, who believed they would encourage longer stays from corporate incentive groups.
Singapore’s Wavelink Travel executive director Ivan Ngoo said: “Clients are willing to explore unique venues instead of the usual function space in hotels.”
He said a corporate group to Macau last year chose to hold their dinner event at the Macau Grand Prix Museum.
“But most corporate incentive groups now tend to stay in Macau for a day as part of an overall itinerary including Hong Kong and Zhuhai. New unique venues in Macau will definitely encourage corporate incentive groups to stay on longer in Macau or want to visit Macau.”
However, for Macau to win over more Singapore MICE groups, Ngoo said the problem of limited direct flight access must be solved fast.
“Jetstar is the only airline offering direct access from Singapore to Macau now and most business travellers are unwilling to fly low-cost.
“If they were to fly via Hong Kong, ferry transfers are not as seamless as we want them to be, and business travellers do not fancy lugging their luggage onto the ferry.”
Additional reporting by Karen Yue
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