According to data released by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), Macau has reported another month of slowdown with gaming revenue falling 10.7% year-over-year in October. While figures were boosted by China’s week-long National Day holiday, which saw the first nine days of the month report daily average revenues double when compared to September, the gaming hub has yet to return to its pre-pandemic glory. Gross Gaming Revenue dropped to MOP 3.90 billion ($481.6 million).
According to the DICJ, October results were 31.6% higher than September, when GGR was MOP 2.96 billion ($365.5 million), but 85.3% lower than October 2019 when Macau recorded GGR of MOP 26.4 billion ($3.3 billion). The improvement seen in October was mostly credited to the aforementioned National Day Golden Week Holiday, which saw an average of 26,040 visitor arrivals each day – exceeding most expectations. As reported by JP Morgan Securities, mass market GGR returned to between 30% and 35% of 2019 levels during Golden Week.
As for the first ten months of the year, Macau’s gross gaming revenue combined plunged 50.5% year-over-year to MOP 35.7 billion ($4.41 billion). It is believed that November could mark the much-awaited start of a recovery for the gaming hub, after China’s Immigration Administration (NIA) announced that the smart visa facility for eVisas and package tours would reopen to all of mainland China as of today, November 1, thus allowing mainland residents to use the facility to apply for group and individual travel to Macau.
However, earlier this week, the gaming hub took another hit that casts further doubt over its future. Authorities in the city have once again reinstated tough Covid-19 curbs after a handful of cases were detected at the MGM Cotai casino. On Sunday 30, the casino was ordered to shut down with staff and guests ordered to stay inside until November 1. Additionally, according to the latest reports, more than half a dozen cases have been confirmed over the past few days, and a number of areas classified as “red zones”.
