Macau: excellent performance of the gambling industry during Golden Week

At the end of the so-called "Golden Week", held in Macau, it turned out that gambling establishments were able to attract almost 185 thousand guests. At the same time, about 90% of casino visitors came from the Chinese mainland.

The GGRAsia report has information that in the first week of October the number of guests in Macau clubs and casinos was higher by almost 2% compared to the same period last year. If you look at the average daily numbers, that's about 26,000 people in 24 hours. This is almost 33% more than the same period in the previous month. Operators of gambling establishments claim that the reality has exceeded all their expectations. They are confident that gambling travelers' confidence in Macau as an entertainment center is recovering at a rapid pace. On the first of October, 37 thousand people came to the city. This is the second in the current year indicator. Recall that in July Macau again did not receive guests for 11 days because of a new outbreak of coronovirus in the region.

During Golden Week, the average hotel occupancy was around 67%. This is almost 30% more than in September. This is despite the fact that there are still a number of restrictions in mainland China due to the spread of the pandemic. For Macau's 40 gaming venues, this situation (high hotel occupancy) has proven to be very lucrative. It was noted by operators that for the first decade of October gambling revenue was twice as high as for the entire previous month. The median profit figure amounted to about $23.5 million. As a result, profits for the 10 days exceeded 210 million dollars.

However, despite such impressive results, they are still a far cry from 2019, when revenues were significantly higher during the same period. The average median figure three years ago was almost $124 million. However, for now, the full potential has not yet been exhausted as Macau has not capitalized on the resurgence of package tours. To summarize, experts said that in the gross revenue segment, the recovery was about 35% from pre-pandemic levels. Thus, despite the good performance of the gambling industry, it is not yet necessary to talk about a full recovery.