Copyright macaudailytimes
Macau is leveraging its 500-year history as a crossroads of Chinese and Western cultures to position itself as a hub for digital creativity, hosting its first large-scale celebration of the creator economy, CreatorWeek Macao 2025. Running from October 24 to 28, the event unites global content creators, social media leaders, and representatives from major platforms including Google, Meta, YouTube, Bilibili, Red, and Douyin. At the opening of the conference at Grand Lisboa Palace in Cotai yesterday, MGTO director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes highlighted Macau’s unique blend of cultural heritage and modern urban vibrancy, emphasizing that evolving traveler preferences favor immersive experiences over traditional sightseeing. “We are inviting influential content creators to explore Macau firsthand, connecting our rich heritage with global creative trends,” Fernandes said, underscoring the government’s push to diversify the economy beyond tourism. “We are oriented to becoming a world center of tourism in Asia,” Fernandes said, noting Macau’s designation as a UNESCO-created city of gastronomy and its designation as a “Culture City of East Asia 2025.” Fernandes described the changing landscape of tourism and content creation, pointing to evolving traveler preferences that favor deeper, immersive experiences over simply visiting picturesque locations. She explained, “Traditional ways of travel are evolving into various new styles. Travelers are embracing the growing preference for experiencing tourism products in depth rather than just taking photos of very nice places. And digital marketing and sales have, in turn, become increasingly significant for visitors, so, in parallel with all these shifts in the competition of our market segments and also travel styles.” In light of this shift, she notes that MGTO recognizes the rising importance of digital marketing and the creator economy as growing industries filled with business potential. “We have tried to invite a lot of influential content creators to join various activities in Macau,” she added. According to the MGTO, CreatorWeek Macau brings together more than 180 creator groups, 50 keynote speakers, and 20 live acts from around the world, transforming Macau into a vibrant showcase of global creativity. Throughout the week, the festival includes not only the conference but also wellness workshops, live performances, and community tours designed to immerse creators in Macau’s multicultural heritage. Industry leaders such as Ben Wong, chief marketing officer of Google Greater China, Evan DeFilippis, vice president of Strategy at MrBeast’s YouTube channel, and Benny Chu, head of Industry at Meta Greater China, were among the speakers exploring themes like scaling creators from Asia to the global stage and strategies behind the world’s biggest creator businesses yesterday.
