Clarion Gaming on Macau
Ben Lerwill, 29 June 2009
C&IT asks three event planners about Macau’s C&I offering
- Peter Rusbridge, chief executive, Clarion Gaming
The Venetian is the destination. There’s a tendency once you’re into a venue that size to never find your way out during a conference. The trip across from Hong Kong to Macau is not at all bad. It’s incredibly well arranged in that you don’t pick your bags up - you go straight through. The staff are helpful and efficient. Our dealings with the Venetian have been excellent and the standard of accommodation is fantastic. And if you stay in Macau itself you can get out and about and get a feel for the heritage.
- Peter Jackson, commercial director, Rede2
We took a 200-strong group to Macau as part of a twin-centre incentive with Hong Kong. We chartered a hydrofoil, had a gala night at the Venetian, then laid on a whole raft of different options the next day - city tours, poker lessons, trips up Macau Tower, all sorts of things. It worked fantastically. As a two-centre solution, it’s a great option for the UK market, and the Portuguese heritage is a real selling point.
- Justine Clement, managing director, Unmissable
I have to say it’s not somewhere we’ve used or even pitched, either before or after the recession. It’s a long way to go and possibly slightly complicated too. Las Vegas is better known so would be a bigger motivator, and then you’ve got other long-haul options, such as South Africa, that give you a memorable experience without the jetlag. I think the high number of alternatives is probably why Macau itself has never been on our radar to propose.
DIRECTORY - MACAU
Macau Government Tourist Office
Contact: Sue Whitehead, 020 8334 7026
Email: sue@humewhitehead.co.uk
Web: www.macautourism.gov.mo