Hardwood timber Macau’s six casino concessionaires saw their best post-pandemic month in October. Healthy Golden Week visitation created banner business in the Special Administrative Region.
For the month, Macau casinos raked in gross gaming revenue (GGR) of MOP20.8 billion (£2 billion, €2.4 billion, $2.6 billion).
That’s 6% more than the previous post-pandemic high of MOP$20.2 billion, recorded in May. It also beat September GGR by 20%, according to the city’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ).
Golden Week saw robust tourism
The month started with a bang as tourists flooded the city for the national Golden Week holiday, running 1-7 October.
From 2-5 October, arrivals from mainland China were up almost 55% year-on-year. And tourism peaked on 3 October, breaking the all-time single-day record with more than 174,000 visitors. The weekly tally exceeded 993,000, up 1.9% over 2019, before Covid shutdowns began. The city did not fully reopen its borders until 6 January 2023.
According to the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO), hotels in the city posted record occupancy, peaking at 98.5% on 3-4 October. The Macau Daily Times reported that daily room rates were 4% higher on average than during the same period in 2019.
Monthly haul points to full-year bonanza
Gaming spend exceeded expectations: an average MOP1.08 billion per day, versus the more modest estimate of MOP900 million, as reported by Macao News.
JP Morgan analysts said the results implied “mass GGR [recovery of] 130% to 140% of pre-Covid levels”. VIP play was up, too, by 35% and per capita spend rose 25% over pre-Covid levels.
The rising tide anticipates stronger full-year performance. The local government had projected annual GGR of MOP216 billion. Now it’s looking to a total of almost MOP240 billion.
Year to date through October, GGR came to MOP$190.1 billion, up 28.1% over the same period in 2023.