One of Asia’s most anticipated annual tourism industry gatherings, the 14th Macao International Travel (Industry) Expo (MITE), officially opened its doors at the Cotai Expo venue in the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Friday, launching a three-day event packed with global destination showcases, cross-sector industry forums, and professional development workshops.
Hosted by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), the 2026 expo carries the forward-looking theme “Global Convergence, Future Horizons,” and has drawn a record-level group of participants: more than 700 tourism-focused businesses and government agencies spanning 59 countries and regions, alongside over 600 pre-vetted hosted buyers ready to forge new commercial partnerships.
Speaking at the expo’s opening ceremony, Tai Kin Ip, Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR Government, framed the event as a cornerstone of Macao’s international tourism outreach. He noted that MITE has grown into one of the city’s largest and most widely respected international tourism trade exhibitions, creating a shared space where global industry leaders can connect, exchange insights, and advance collaborative initiatives that benefit the worldwide tourism sector.
Tai also shared an encouraging update on Macao’s 2026 tourism recovery: the city has sustained steady growth in visitor arrivals through the first quarter of the year, with total incoming visitors surpassing the 10 million mark. Of that total, international visitor volumes are estimated to exceed 750,000, signaling a strong rebound in cross-border tourism to the region.
As part of this year’s expanded global engagement effort, MITE organizers extended a special invitation to tourism representatives from five Central Asian nations — Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan — to join a tailored familiarization tour of Macao. The initiative is designed to strengthen people-to-people and industry ties between Macao and Central Asia, while boosting Macao’s profile and visibility as a premier travel destination across Central Asia and the broader global tourism landscape.
In a post-opening interview, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of the MGTO, highlighted growing collaborative momentum across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). She explained that GBA cities are actively deepening cross-regional coordination to develop more integrated multi-destination travel itineraries for international visitors. Building on the strong foundation of existing partnership work across the region, Fernandes noted that collective strengths can be further leveraged to position the GBA as a must-visit global travel hub, drawing more international tourists to the entire area.
The 14th MITE will remain open to participants and visitors through Sunday, with scheduled B2B matching sessions, cultural showcase events, and policy roundtables planned across the remaining days of the expo.