The Macau Government Tourist Office has launched an online training scheme for travel agents.

Agents can sign-up for the four-module course at macauspecialist.co.uk and receive a Macau Specialist certificate on completion of the programme.

The tourist board's deputy director, Helena Fernandes, helped launch the training scheme at World Travel Market.

She told TTG the course was part of a broader strategy to boost the popularity of Macau holidays in the UK.

"This year has been difficult across the board. We are aiming to boost our presence in the UK through an increased presence in tour operator brochures and by investing in press campaigns in the consumer press," Fernandes said.

She admitted that year-on-year visitor numbers from the UK had fallen about 18% so far this year, but claimed there had been some "positive pull back" in recent months. In 2008 some 80,000 people travelled to Macau from the UK.

Fernandes said the meetings and incentives market was still crucial to Macau given the high yield it produced. The country has recently enjoyed huge investment in hotels and infrastructure, with a state-of the-art convention centre opened in 2007.

Global meetings spend has plummeted throughout the recession, but Fernandes said the Macau Mice market had held up.

Work on a bridge between Hong Kong and Macau is scheduled to start at the end of the year and should be completed in five years, according to Fernandes.

The tourist board said it would also strive to forge closer links with the Hong Kong Tourist Board to boost visitor numbers.

"At present day trips to Macau from Hong Kong are popular but we want people to turn that trip into an overnight stay. One day does not do it justice," she said.  

• Is Macau the new Vegas - or a tart with a heart? (19 Dec 2007)