Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) launched the Macao Educational Tour Resources Search Platform online today (25 February) and the Educational Tour Course at the Macao Grand Prix Museum under its management. A “Guideline for Macao Educational Tour Services” and a “Guideline for Design of Macao Educational Tour Courses” are released on MGTO’s website as well, as part of the various measures to foster educational tourism development in Macao and deepen tourism’s integration with education and other fields in collaboration with the travel trade.
Two guidelines facilitate trade’s development of educational tours
MGTO continues to deepen integration between “tourism + education” as well as other related sectors. In 2024, the Office commissioned China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) to conduct a consultation and review study on how to advance the development of Macao’s educational tourism market. The study is completed with part of the findings released – the “Guideline for Macao Educational Tour Services” and the “Guideline for Design of Macao Educational Tour Courses” are now available for perusal and download on MGTO’s website: www.dst.gov.mo/zh-hant/trade-association/trade-association-others/educational-travel.html (in Chinese only). The guidelines can serve as reference for tourism and related entities’ pursuits in educational tourism. A guide for educational tourism in Macao is also available on the above website.
Macao Educational Tour Resources Search Platform
Besides offering the guidelines, MGTO has built the Macao Educational Tour Resources Search Platform (the “Platform”) for the travel trade. Reorganized informative resources about educational tourism are released on the Platform to expand the reach and utilization rate of these resources, in turn fostering collective sharing of resources and product development, while enabling convenient search and support for educational tourism activities. Different themed tour routes are presented as examples for reference when educational tourism activities are designed. The Platform are open to local travel agencies at the first stage. Users can log into the Platform via their accounts on the Business & Associations Platform on MGTO’s website (https://licensemoa.macaotourism.gov.mo/sso/language/mo).
Macao Grand Prix Museum opens first-stage Educational Tour Course
The Macao Grand Prix Museum (the “Museum”) is a sophisticated blend of history, sports, popular science, technology, culture and creativity as well as barrier-free accessibility, dedicated to creating a worthwhile experience of educational fun, leisure and learning for all, carrying on the Macau Grand Prix’s cultural legacy for greater synergy among the sectors of "tourism +". The Museum has been leveraging different resources to propel educational tourism development forward in recent years. After organizing motorsport-themed educational workshops last year, the Museum now launches the Educational Tour Course (the “Course”) for different age groups this year. The objective is to deepen students’ awareness and understanding of the Macau Grand Prix’s culture and museum exhibits through guided tours and learning activities at the Museum. The Course comprises educational tour activities for primary school students at the first stage. After the basic format of operation is developed, the Course will be gradually extended to other groups of learners, to lay a foundation for extensive implementation.
The first-stage Course is divided into two categories – lower primary (grade 1 – 3) and upper primary (grade 4 – 6). Schools, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and commercial institutions can apply for the Course from today. The Course encompasses guided museum tours and themed experiments to offer interesting learning experience tailored for students from the aforementioned age groups. Each lesson spans about 2.5 hours and is conducted in Cantonese.
Schools and educational institutions can apply for the Course for free, while non-profit organizations and commercial institutions can join by purchase of admission tickets in accord with the Museum’s ticket admission fee table. For more information about the Course and themed content, please visit the Museum’s website (https://mgpm.macaotourism.gov.mo/en/). Applicants can download the application form from the above website or obtain the form at the Museum. Applications are required to be submitted at least seven working days in advance for registration.
To widen the publicity, MGTO conducted an inaugural ceremony for the Educational Tour Course at the Museum today (25 February) for students to experience the Course in advance. Timely adjustments will be made to the themed lessons in the future for continuous enhancement of the overall educational quality and functions, in turn carrying on the culture of the Macau Grand Prix.
Promote educational tourism
In accord with the “1 + 4” development strategy for adequate economic diversification, MGTO continues to deepen integration across the sectors of “tourism +”, promote and encourage operation of “tourism + education” activities in Macao. Tourism operators are motivated to explore and harness local educational tourism resources for development of educational tour products, thus raising Macao’s appeal as an educational travel destination and tapping into more diverse market segments.
