The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) announced Macao’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) for July fell by 95% year-on-year, down to MOP1.34bn ($168m).
Macau’s revenues were steadily dropping for a few months, going beyond 90% since the pandemic lockdown started. In June, revenue was MOP716m, a 97% drop from 2019.
Compared to the last month, Macau’s GGR in July increased by 88%. Such month-on-month fluctuations happened before, when May GGR went up by 134% compared to April, even if May’s revenue dropped by 93% compared to 2019.
For the first seven months of 2020, GGR is MOP35bn, an 80% decline compared to the previous year when GGR for the same period was MOP174bn.
The drops in revenue are the result of restricted travel and ongoing pandemic. Foreign nationals cannot enter Macau, while the restrictions are slowly easing for Chinese, Taiwan and Hong Kong citizens, however, they are required to pass the screening and comply with 14-day quarantine.
Individual Visit Scheme makes up close to 48% of Chinese visitors to Macau and might be reinstated soon. At the same time, analysts caution, “Hong Kong is estimated to contribute up to 15% of [Macau] GGR, and the worsening situation in Hong Kong is not positive to Macau in the near term.”
The casinos that aim to re-open need to pass nucleic acid test (NAT) certification, as well as variety of health regulations.
