Casinos in Macau have been experiencing a slowdown due to various lockdowns imposed by the Chinese government to limit the spread of Covid-19. This has prevented tourists from China to visit the gambling hub. The revenue dipped by nearly 50% during September.
China has discouraged its citizens to visit the gambling hub to control the spread of infection. However, the revenue for casinos is expected to see a 9% drop in October as tourism may see a boost due to the week-long National Day holiday in China.
Recent lockdowns have been smaller but still affect casinos’ ability to maintain their profit margins. The problem for the existing casinos has largely increased by the fact that the licenses for six of the casino operators in Macau are going to expire at the end of this year, and there is also a new entry to compete to get a license from, Genting Malaysia which provides its entire services as a gaming hotel which serves a variety of games including gambling. The winners will be announced by December by the Macau government.
An upcoming weeklong Chinese holiday also gives a bit of hope as more customers are expected to visit, but the conditions remain uncertain as the government is still urging people not to travel, and no data on how many people might go this year. Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau data shows that the gross gaming revenue has dropped to almost 3 billion patacas.
China plans on resuming the reissue of e-visa to people wanting to visit Macau. The e-visa will allow people to enter the city and join tour groups of their liking. It also works out as a hope for the casinos to get more activity and increase their revenue.
