Macau casinos earn $1.88 billion in June, down from May but second-best month since coronavirus crisis
In June 2023, the gross gaming revenue (GGR) of Macau casinos was 15.21 billion patacas (US$1.88 billion), a month-on-month decrease of 2.3%. But it's still the market's second-best month since January 2020.
Macau is the only place in China that allows casino gambling until the COVID-19 outbreak began recently. The six commercial gambling operators in the market are patiently waiting for Chinese President Xi Jinping to end his controversial "Zero Covid" plan. This brought life on the continent to a standstill long after much of the world had returned to normal.
June revenue was up 514% year over year compared with June 2022, when the enclave's casinos won just $310 million. June 2023 was Macau's second-best revenue month since the coronavirus outbreak, behind only May 2023, when six casino operators won $1.93 billion.
Deceleration Worry
Macau, the world's richest casino market before the pandemic, is trying to start a new chapter. The VIPs and high rollers brought to town by junket groups have disappeared. Previously, Xi Jinping ordered mainland law enforcement agencies to scrutinize such actions more closely.
The president said travel agencies that offer luxury travel and first-class accommodation to high-roller gamblers from the mainland to Macau are raising national security concerns as large amounts of capital flow through casino tax havens. After China arrested Zhou Zhuohua, a former representative of the agency industry and subsequently sentenced him to 18 years in prison, agency groups closed shop and moved to other markets in Asia for fear of prosecution.
As a result, Macau ordered its casinos to diversify their operations from the VIP segment to the mass market. In exchange for new 10-year licenses, Macau ordered six gaming companies to invest at least $13.5 billion in non-gaming projects.
In May, more than 530,000 mainland tourists traveled to Macau, one of China's two special administrative regions, the other being Hong Kong, benefiting from China's May Day holiday. But in June, the rush to casinos waned, despite other high-profile events such as the Dragon Boat Festival.
That has some gaming analysts wondering whether Macau will experience a strong, lasting gaming recovery like what other major gaming markets have experienced post-COVID-19.
Macau’s casino industry’s recovery showed signs of weakening in June, with gaming revenue lower than expected amid concerns that the initial rush of Chinese tourists after reopening would fade,” Shirely Zhu and Alice Huang wrote in Bloomberg.
PhD. Yingwei Wang, president of Sands China, a unit of Las Vegas Sands Corp., said this week that the six gaming franchises would not be able to shift their customer focus overnight. But they will achieve their goal of increasing the number of foreign tourists in due course.
"We are doing a lot of promotional activities abroad now. We are expanding our overseas representative network; we are leading wholesalers and travel agencies to understand Macau. This is a long-term [strategy]," said Dr. Wong told Inside Asia Gaming.
Long recovery ahead
In the first half of 2023, Macau casinos won 80.136 billion patacas ($9.93 billion). Despite an increase of more than 200% compared to the same period in 2022, the market still has some way to go before it returns to 2019 levels.
Gaming revenue from January to June 2019 totaled 149.503 billion patacas, meaning casino revenue was still down more than 46% compared to 2019.
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Source: www.casino.org
