One of the world’s largest networks of travel and tourism professionals is convening at Macao’s Grand Lisboa Palace next week for its 55th International Asia Congress.

Nearly 200 delegates, members, and industry specialists representing sister organisations from Europe, the United States, and across Asia are slated to attend this year’s Skål symposium where keynote speeches and panel discussions will address regional and global challenges facing the hospitality industry. 

From identifying a unified Greater Bay Area (GBA) visitor strategy to the reinvigoration of cultural and innovative tourism, the forum is taking place amid a recovery in global travel alongside an evolving consumer profile. 

[See more: ‘Macao was a supply-side revolution’ says Sands China’s CEO Grant Chum]

“The objective of these gatherings is to not only showcase the city as a leading tourism hub, but also leverage the group’s collective experience to find workable solutions for major obstacles we encounter,” commented Pamela Chan, managing director of Taipa Village Destination Limited and vice president of Skål International Macau, in conversation with The Bay.

Under the theme “Celebrating Heritage – Empowering Innovation,” the assembly is anticipated to highlight emerging opportunities and obstacles brought on by new technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics, while also focusing on green issues like sustainability initiatives, Chan says. 

Reaching out to international and MICE visitors

The event comes as Macao’s tourism numbers are breaching new highs.  More than 40 million visitors entered the city in 2025, surpassing its pre-pandemic level. However, higher-spending overnight guests remain about 10 percent below their 2019 figure. 

As part of its drive to raise visitor revenues, Macao is targeting 3 million international tourists this year, up from 2.7 million in 2025, Chan says, though notes that a lack of direct flight from the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and US forces Macao is to anchor itself to Hong Kong to transit overseas arrivals. 

Efforts to broaden the visitor revenues includes a greater focus on professional MICE gatherings, where in addition to longer stays, business attendees spend upwards of three times what their leisure counterparts would expend. This point was highlighted by Grant Chum, chief executive officer of Sands China in his keynote address during last month’s G2E conference, adding that today’s MICE attendees become tomorrow’s leisure guests. 

Macao’s MICE attendance rose 10 percent last year to 1.5 million, though it represents less than 4 percent of total arrivals. Year to date, nearly 15 million tourists have visited Macao, a 13 percent increase, underscoring visitor momentum to the city. However, the focus should not be solely on the quantity number, experts say.

[See more: Prospects of direct Macao-Lisbon flights dim, as officials acknowledge ‘significant challenges’]

“There’s no magic number that Macao should be aiming for,” Glenn McCartney, an associate professor in integrated resort and tourism management at the University of Macau, said in a previous conversation with Macao News (now The Bay). 

“When the negative spillover from over-tourism and traffic congestion become more visible, a strategic review needs to be called on to emphasise quality, rather than quantity tourism,” he said.

Macao is hosting the International Asia Congress for the first since 2018, having previously held the event in 2007 and in 1994. Skål’s 55th International Asia Congress is scheduled for June 11 to June 14.