MACAO, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The 67th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Tourism Working Group (TWG) Meeting was held in China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing together delegates from APEC member economies to discuss key issues ahead of the 13th APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting.

According to the Macao SAR government, the TWG meeting focused on priority areas including digital transformation, human capital development, travel facilitation and competitiveness, as well as sustainable tourism and economic growth. Delegates also discussed work plans and exchanged views on the industry's digital transformation.

Representatives of Macao attended the two-day meeting as a guest economy, sharing the city's latest tourism developments and exchanging views with delegates from APEC member economies on promoting regional tourism cooperation.

During the meeting, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office, outlined Macao SAR's economic diversification strategy, "tourism+" development, and smart tourism initiatives. She also shared about the 240-hour visa-free transit policy to attract international visitors for multi-destination travel to Macao and other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

According to the APEC website, the APEC TWG was formed in 1991 as a platform for tourism administrators of APEC economies to share information, exchange views, and develop areas of cooperation in tourism, trade, and policies to support growth in the region through travel and tourism.

The 13th APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting will be held in Macao on Saturday. ■