The tourism office for Macau is hoping to attract more families and students to the region.
Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macau Government Tourist Office, said the focus was also on getting tourists to spend longer exploring the destination and spending money, rather than increasing visitor numbers.
To achieve the goal, the tourist office is working with tour operators to establish new package ideas, as well as looking at ways to repackage old itineraries to make them more appealing.
To attract the family market, the Venetian Macau Resort Hotel has teamed up with DreamWorks to bring characters such as Kung Fu Panda and Shrek to the resort.
She said up to 1,000 extra rooms would be built in Macau in the next year, with an additional six more properties expected to be built by 2016.
“It’s hard to say at the moment how many extra rooms that is going to mean, because the companies are yet to put in their applications to the government,” she said. “We currently have 28,000 rooms in Macau so that number will increase by quite a lot.
“In terms of working with the trade we are working alongside them to show how they can promote the new products. We want to make sure the operators have all the information they need about new products while we also look at how to repackage the older products. It’s all about working together.”
She added: “We are looking to encourage more student groups to come with incentive packages for them.”
While new resorts are set to be built in the Asian destination, known for its casinos and heritage, de Senna Fernandes said the authentic food was still on offer.
She said the tourism office was always looking out for the older sections of Macau which could attract tourists.