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Abstract

Since the transfer of sovereignty to China in 1999, Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China has become No.1 in profitability in global gambling destinations by gaming revenue as well as a tourism and leisure destination for millions of consumers worldwide. According to the World Tourism Organization, Macau ranked the 20th position in terms of the world’s international tourist arrivals and ranked the 5th place in Asia and the Pacific in 2010. In 2011, Macau attracted 28 million tourists, among which 3 million were international visitors. Also in 2011 in terms of international tourism receipt, Macau was ranked 9th among other destinations in the world and ranked 2nd in Asia and the Pacific. The expansion of tourism sector has led to more tourism disputes. The consumer protection in Macau is facing new challenges of inter-regional and international conflict of laws in the context of deeper regional integration and globalization. At the national level, under the formula of “one country, two systems”, the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan have different legal systems and the whole China comprises three law families and four jurisdictions. Visitors from the other three jurisdictions accounted for approximately 90% of tourist arrivals in Macau and their tourism contracts took diversified and complex forms. Meanwhile, Macau has participated in a number of international tourism organizations aiming to develop more areas of cooperation on tourism trade and policies. The paper examines the tourist-consumer protection laws and identifies the developments and characteristics of tourism disputes resolution in Macau. Since prevention of tourism disputes is always better than remedies, by drawing upon experiences of other models of tourist protection worldwide, the paper further presents appropriate solutions to the institutionalization of interregional and international cooperation for a more effective protection of tourist-consumers in Macau.

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