Following dismal visitation numbers during the National Day Golden Week, October reported a total of MOP4.3 billion (US$544.6 million) in gross gaming revenues, a 25 per cent drop from an already disappointing September tally and the worst monthly result in 2021.
The amount is also 40 per cent lower than October of last year, the first lower yearly comparison since January.
Starting from September 25, Macau detected 12 local Covid-19 cases in two batches, leading to two rounds of COVID-testing covering all residents from September 25 to September 28, and then from October 4 to October 7.
The new outbreak also led Zhuhai authorities to announce 14-day quarantine measures for any entries via the SAR, with visitation between the Golden Week holiday period between October 1-7 averaging only 1,200 arrivals per day.
The SAR has not reported monthly gaming revenues above MOP10 billion since May, the only month in 2021 that surpassed this mark, with an expected recovery in tourism numbers failing to materialise following outbreaks in Guangdong Province and in Macau.
Local authorities predicted the year would end with a total of MOP130 billion in gross gaming revenue, however, after outbreaks in the SAR and the mainland continued to impact visitor numbers, combined with the continuing shrinking of the VIP market pool, total results reached MOP72.1 billion by October some 55 per cent of what was expected.
The Macau SAR has collected MOP27.2 billion in gaming taxes this year as of September, or about 55 per cent of the MOP50 billion estimate authorities expected to collect in 2021.
The downturn caused local authorities to announce last week that they intend to resort to the financial reserve again to meet increased spending on the territory’s budget, which remains virtually paralysed due to policies to combat the pandemic.
Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, and if this new appeal to the ‘vault’ materialises, the Macau government will have injected MOP84.5 billion to cover budgetary expenses.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also downgraded its predictions for economic growth to be reported by the Macau SAR in 2021, to a 20.4 per cent rise in its real gross domestic product (GDP).
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