ABSTRACT Tourism is one of the major sources of income on which Macao relies. Anticipating the significant contribution that the development of the tourism industry may have for the territory and considering that the travel brochure is one of the most common sales tools, the Macao Government Tourist Offce has printed many travel brochures, in various languages, so as to facilitate the promotion of the tourism products and the places of interest in Macao. However, scholars have pointed out that tourists coming from diverse countries may differ in their cultural attitudes. Tourism practitioners or marketing professionals need to be aware of the unique cultures of tourists. By understanding the characteristics of individual cultural groups, they may be in a better position to design a travel message tailor-made to the cultural needs of potential and existing tourists, being able to stimulate their travel interests. The failure to do so, on the other hand, may lead to misunderstandings by potential and existing tourists and even result in cultural conflicts. As a result, the advertising materials for the tourism industry, such as travel brochures, have to be cautious about cross-cultural communication. This study focuses on cross-cultural communication in the official travel brochures of Macao. By utilizing Halliday's systemic-functional grammar framework, the study examines experiential and interpersonal meanings of these brochures. The results are then compared with the uniqueness of American and Chinese tourists in terms of Hofstede's cultural dimensions of power distance, individualism and long-term orientation. This study aims to verify if the Macao Government has taken into account cultural characteristics of the tourists in writing up the official travel brochures and to inform the government whether it is necessary to enhance its promotional materials. The study may also enrich the literature of cross-cultural research for tourism.