Tourism and health industries unite to fight the epidemic｜Reprinted by "Macao Platform"

Author: Gu Zelin Guilherme Rego (author of "Macao Platform")

The cooperation of medical and tourism has taken the first step in Macau. The study was co-authored by University of Macau professors Glenn McCartney, Ai Lin Wu and José Ferreira Pinto . The first phase of the study revolves around building partnerships with community pharmacies to make the tourism industry resilient to future outbreaks.

"It's not a common collaboration," said Mer Xilian , assistant professor of international integrated resort management at UM . But Wu Ailin, an assistant professor at UM's Institute of Chinese Medicine and a practicing pharmacist for many years, explained that due to the new crown epidemic and other Diseases are different and involve public health, so everyone needs to be involved. "

The data of recent years demonstrate the need for a rethinking of the tourism industry. In 2019, before the outbreak, Macau received 39.4 million tourists. According to MGTO data, in the past two years (2020 and 2021), in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, Macau has only received 13.6 million tourist arrivals (about 34.5% of the 2019 arrivals).

Macau’s gross gaming revenue in 2021 will be 86.8 billion patacas, up 43.7% year-on-year. However, the figures for 2020 are often overlooked: a slump in revenue (79.2%) resulted in the gaming sector’s share of Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) being only 21.3%, a contraction of 56.3%. In 2019, the gaming industry accounted for more than half (51%) of Macau’s GDP, which shows the importance of the gaming industry to Macau’s economy.

"This time we were caught off guard," admits Merchilan, stressing that the tourism industry wants to be ready for what's to come. "We realize that this outbreak is a health emergency, so we should join forces to conduct interdisciplinary research. Especially in Macau, which relies heavily on tourism. Aviation, hotel, cruise, these industries are constantly communicating, but We didn't focus on other disciplines, such as health care."

"Win-Win" Proposal

A project titled Living with Covid-19 and Sustaining a Tourism Recovery—Adopting a Front-Line Collaborative Response between the Tourism Industry and Community Pharmacists )” research came into being.

In order to carry out this research, several scholars interviewed pharmacists, tourism industry owners and other professionals through questionnaires, and developed a conceptual framework based on the "4Cs", that is, communication between pharmaceuticals and tourism (Communication) , Cooperation (Cooperation), coordination (Coordination) and collaboration (Collaboration).

"With regard to our hypothesis, the responses from the interviews confirm the appropriateness of this framework and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration when designing sustainable recovery strategies," the study reads.

Wu Ailin explained that the first contact with community pharmacies is because tourism and pharmacies "serve the same type of customers." "Tourists come to Macau not only for hotels or casinos, but also for pharmaceutical products because they have confidence in the quality assurance of medicines in Macau."

She believes that "the development of the epidemic and cross-border restrictions have made tourists worried. If they have a safety net, I believe it can improve their confidence in going to Macau." On the other hand, community pharmacies (mainly concentrated in tourist areas) are widely distributed. , so she believes that "we already have a certain foundation" to combine the two industries. The study noted that, as of 2020, there were 296 community pharmacies in Macau.

In Merxilian's view... (to be continued)

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Tourism health industry unites to fight the epidemic- Plataforma Media

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