Around the world, gambling industries are continuing to struggle when it comes to bringing in revenues. The COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020 and is ongoing today, with venues around the world held to certain restrictions that are causing revenue earnings to remain low. In Macau, gambling revenues are still lacking as travel restrictions remain an issue.
The region brought in $554.5 million in August, based on details provided by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. This is an increase year over year at over 230% but the gross gaming totals are almost 50% lower than July’s numbers.
COVID-19 Affect
As the pandemic continues to be an issue, it is harming the revenue recovery in Macau. Investment analysts have suggested that government restrictions that are in place to stop the spread of the Delta variant of the virus are the main cause behind the drop from July to August.
In August, COVID-19 measures were reimplemented from early on in the pandemic. This included travel restrictions involving the Guangdong province. This area is a major source of travel for Macau. By shutting down movement into the SAR, the revenues quickly plummeted.
Anyone from Hong Kong or Taiwan was forced to quarantine for two weeks if they traveled to Macau. Most people don’t have the ability to quarantine and still visit thereafter, so travelers just stopped coming. From Mainland China, travelers could visit, but they were forced to show a negative COVID test before gaining entry.
The regulations were back in place after four new cases of the virus were found when August began. This was the first time that the virus was recorded in the region in a year and a half.
Huge Drop in Visitor Totals
Because of the new cases, the number of daily visitors to Macau from China dropped considerably. The lack of tourists led to a major decline in revenues. Thankfully, the cases did not lead to an outbreak, so it seems the issue was caught early on before anyone else could become infected.
It is expected that Macau will see a nice turnaround in October, especially since the Golden Week takes place when the month begins.
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