Shortage of land, human resources hinders Macao's tourism industry development

Despite an increasing number of tourists that floodedyear, with visitors from the Chinese Mainland and Hong
into Macao in recent years, limitation of land and humanKong accounted for 55 percent and 30 percent of the
resources still "stands in the way" of the city's tourismtotal respectively.
industry development, according to a research reportHowever, the report also said that issues, such as the
released on Wednesday.city's lack of land and human resources, negative
The report said that Macao's tourism industry currentlyeffects of gaming industry boom on local community,
enjoys a number of opportunities and strengthsheating competition in tourism market of the
because of her unique background, since the SpecialAsia-Pacific region, still pose potential threats to the
Administration Region (SAR) understands how tocity's tourism development.
capitalize on its tourism and gaming industry to attractTo tackle these issues, the report proposed that the
more tourists.SAR government put more effort in education and
The report was jointly compiled by Macao's Institutetraining to enhance the quality of the local workforce,
for Tourism Studies (IFT) and the Tourism Researchand look actively for business opportunities by
Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciencescooperating with neighboring tourism destinations,
(CASS).attracting more human and capital resources globally.
Figures released by the SAR's Statistics and CensusIn addition, local government is also advised to consider
Service ( DSEC) showed that the island city registeredestablishing a "clean" image, making Macao an
a record high of over 26 million visitor arrivals in 2007, aenvironmentally clean and socially peaceful city.
significant increase of 23 percent over the previous