Tourism Rates in Macau Are Expected to Increase Next Month

It’s been a rough year for casino operators in Macau. Gaming revenue in the city has been extraordinarily low over the past eight months. City officials are working hard to attract gamblers back to the casinos here. Analysts are now claiming that tourism rates in Macau are set to increase significantly during the first week of October.

Next month’s “Golden Week” is already bringing more hotel room bookings to the city. Hope is that a surge in casino revenue is experienced here, as well. Today, we’re going to talk about how next month will affect Macau moving forward.

Let’s get into it!

Gaming Revenue is Slowly Increasing in Macau

Since 2016, Macau has seen its gambling revenue drop. The US quickly entered into a trade battle with China that took a significant impact on its economy. As a result, fewer Chinese nationals were making the trip into Macau to gamble.

Junket operations began struggling to attract VIP players. Many of these businesses were forced to move out of the city to focus on other gambling destinations. The drop in VIP players started to have a real effect on casino revenue earnings.

This trend continued for years. When 2020 rolled around, things got significantly worse. A spike in Covid-19 cases led to casinos in the territory being forced to shut down. The government in mainland China then quickly set travel restrictions into the city.

It didn’t take long for Macau’s casinos to reopen. When they did, however, there was almost no one around the gamble inside them. Things stayed like this for months. Eventually, tourism rates slowly started to increase.

Revenue earnings are still significantly lower than they were in 2019. Fortunately, it’s now becoming clear that casinos are seeing their earnings increase each month. Revenue actually jumped by 52.5% from July to August.

Many analysts predict that things will improve rapidly in October. Here’s a look at why that is.

Expect Tourism Rates in Macau to Surge in Early October

Macau, like most other casino destinations, relies heavily on its tourism industry. With visitors, the city’s casinos can’t earn revenue. It’s no surprise to see the casino companies here working extremely hard to boost their visitation rates.

It’s now looking like an upcoming holiday week will help these casinos to achieve that goal. The first week of October marks the “Golden Week” in mainland China. Casinos are already seeing a huge spike in hotel room bookings during this week.

Gaming analyst Praveen Choudhary confirmed this increase to the media this week.

“We are seeing meaningful improvement in occupancy before and during golden week,” he said. Praveen later went on to claim that room occupancy is still significantly lower than what was seen in 2019.

The holidays aren’t the only reason why tourism rates in Macau are about to surge. Starting on September 23rd, tourist visas will be available in this city. That will help to significantly boost visitation rates into the territory.

A boost in tourism almost guarantees a surge in gambling revenue. That’s fantastic news for all of the major casino companies with property here. Hopefully, Macau proves to be a valuable location for the companies struggling in the US.

How Are US Casinos Doing Right Now?

The US casino industry has also taken a major hit in 2020. Here, all casinos were forced to shut down in March. Each state has taken its own approach getting these gambling properties back up and running.

Obviously, all eyes have been on Las Vegas lately. This city remains the biggest gambling destination in the United States. Casinos here opened back up in June. Both tourism and gambling revenue has been slowly increasing since that time.

Atlantic City seems to be faring well for itself. Casinos in this city began accepting guests again in July. Interestingly, the regulated online sports betting and casino industry has helped to bring the state a huge amount of much-needed revenue.

All major US gambling destinations are seeing a rise in visitation. Tourism rates in Macau are beginning to, as well. It seems that the world’s land-based casino industry is finally getting back to some sense of normalcy.

Most analysts agree it will take years before tourism and gaming revenue reach pre-pandemic levels. In the meantime, casino companies will work with what they have.

Stay tuned for more Macau casino news over the next few weeks!