China has announced the temporary suspension of its Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), essentially halting all solo travel by mainland Chinese into Macau in the latest dramatic measure aimed at preventing the spread of the Coronavirus.
Introduced in 2003 in order to boost tourism to Macau and Hong Kong in the wake of the deadly SARS outbreak, the IVS has become one of the most commonly used visa types by mainland visitors to the two Special Administrative Regions and accounted for around 47% of all visitors to Macau in 2019.
However, China’s decision to suspend issuing IVS visas – announced by Macau’s Secretary for Administration and Justice, André Cheong, at a press conference late Tuesday – coupled with a ban on package tours implemented last week, leaves Chinese visitors with minimal options to enter Macau unless travelling for business or with family.
The news comes as another crushing blow for Macau’s casino operators who traditionally count Chinese New Year as their busiest period of the year, accounting for around 5.5% of annual GGR according to brokerage Bernstein. January and February combined comprise up to 17% of annual GGR.
Golden Week visitation numbers took yet another dive on Day 4 of Golden Week, with figures released by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) showing a year-on-year decline of 84.1% to 36,092 on Monday – taking the four-day total so far to 194,521, down 69.0%.
Those declines include a 75.1% fall in visitors from mainland China to 111,723, with Day 4 numbers down a whopping 88.5% to 20.174.
“The impact is frustratingly tough to assess, as it depends on how long the suspension lasts (which is dictated by virus developments),” said JP Morgan’s DS Kim, Derek Choi and Jeremy An said in a Tuesday note. “We wouldn’t be surprised to see the IVS suspension itself – while it lasts – hurt GGR by over 30% (for both VIP and mass, though the impact should be relatively bigger for mass), and we see significant downside to February GGR forecasts, as well as January.”
Authorities have also announced the suspension or reduction of major ferry services between Macau and Hong Kong. Starting from 30 January, services from the Outer Harbour and Taipa ferry terminals in Macau to Hong Kong’s Tuen Mun and Kowloon terminals will be suspended, while those travelling between Macau and both the Hong Kong International Airport and Sheung Wan terminals will be reduced.
Meanwhile, Macau’s gaming regulator announced overnight that it held a meeting with the SAR’s six concessionaires on Tuesday at which it instructed them to adjust staff rosters to allow mainland residents to leave Macau through the border gate checkpoint by 10pm each day. As previously reported by Inside Asian Gaming, the closing time of the Gongbei border gate has been temporarily brought forward from 1am to 10pm daily.
In cases where mainland staff finish work later than 10pm, operators must arrange “suitable vehicles” to shuttle employees home via the Lotus Port.
“The SAR Government emphasizes that the government, enterprises and citizens must work together to prevent epidemics,” the DICJ said. “The six major operators will cooperate with the government’s arrangements to immediately implement the above-mentioned relevant measures and fulfill their social responsibilities.”
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