The Macau casino industry reported a gross gaming revenue (GGR) of MOP14.9 billion (US$1.86 billion) in September, according to figures released by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) on Sunday. This represents a 13% decrease from the previous month.
The decline when compared to August, which had been the best post-COVID month for the city’s core industry, can be attributed to seasonality and the impact of adverse weather events that occurred in early September, Macau Business reported.
One notable factor affecting the September GGR figure was Typhoon Saola, which swept through the city and forced the closure of casinos for at least nine hours on September 1 and 2. However, when compared to the same month last year, when Macau and mainland China were under strict pandemic restrictions, GGR in September saw a remarkable 404% increase.
For the first nine months of 2023, Macau has generated MOP128.9 billion (US$16.1 billion) in revenue, approaching the projected annual revenue of MOP130 billion (US$16.25 billion) set by the Government. This marks a substantial 305% increase when compared to the January-to-September period of 2022.
Industry analysts are optimistic about the casino industry’s performance in October, anticipating a robust visitor tally. Statistics from Saturday, September 30, the first day of the National Day Golden Week, showed the highest single-day tourist arrival figure in four years, with 158,000 visitors.
Luis Heredia, President of the Macau Hotel Association, recently expressed expectations that hotel occupancy rates in Macau will not only match but surpass pre-pandemic levels during the upcoming National Day Golden Week. Hotels situated on the Macau Peninsula are expected to achieve occupancy rates ranging from 60 percent to 70 percent.
As per the report, Citigroup analysts have expressed a positive outlook for the remainder of 2023, suggesting that GGR could potentially reach MOP181.5 billion ($22.49 billion) for the whole year, which would be equivalent to 62% of the 2019 levels.
September also faced tough comparatives on a monthly basis as August marked a significant milestone as the best post-COVID month for the city, with GGR reaching MOP17.2 billion ($2.13 billion). Macau also experienced a notable surge in visitor arrivals in August, according to data released by the Statistics and Census Bureau (DSEC).
The figures revealed that 3,221,691 (3.2 million) visitors arrived during August, marking the highest monthly count since the same month in 2019. This development was particularly significant as it represents the first time since December 2019 that Macau has hosted over three million tourists in a single month, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.