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Macau: Govt forecasts US$16bln for 2023 casino GGR

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According to Macau’s Chief Executive, Ho Iat Seng, the government continues to project that the SAR would generate approximately MOP 130 billion ($16.17 billion) in gross gaming revenue (GGR) by 2023.

The projection was reiterated on Thursday by Seng after being made public during the Legislative Assembly of Macau’s consideration of the proposed budget for the 2023 fiscal year in November.

After the new gaming concessions went into effect on January 1 and the city eliminated its entry criteria on January 8, Seng urged all pertinent parties to contribute to the sector’s renovation.

According to agbrief, Macau also saw over 1,09,000 visitors during the first three days of opening. The tourism department anticipates that up to 50,000 people would visit the region every day over the Chinese New Year holidays.

While the number of visitors during Chinese New Year reached over 1,70,000 in 2019 before lockdown, the tourism department said, “We will not be able to, from one day to the next, return to the same number of arrivals.”

According to research released on Monday by brokerage J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd, the average daily Macau casino GGR for the first eight days of January has already surpassed more than double the daily average attained in the fourth quarter.

The report, citing industry checks, put the Macau casino GGR for the first eight days of the new year at MOP 2.1 billion. Seng did say that the city’s casino is required to record average monthly GGR of more than MOP 10 billion to meet the government’s forecast of yearly MOP 130 billion GGR.

Macau’s GGR fell by 51.4 percent year-on-year to MOP 42.20 billion in 2022 and the year 2022 closed with GGR of MOP3.48 billion in December. With revised policies for Covid in Macau, casino operators believe this year can be the start of recovery period for Macau.

Seng also said in his statements to the media that the Macau authorities were in frequent contact with their counterparts on the mainland over the restart of package tours from mainland China to Macau.

Officials say that the discussion for tour groups has been going on for a while, and that the tour groups are likely to get a green flag as soon as Covid-19 infections in mainland China are brought under control.

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