Macau’s casinos recorded gross gaming revenue of MOP$11.58 billion (US$1.43 billion) in January, the highest monthly GGR figure since January 2020.
According to information from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), the January total was 82.5% higher than January 2022 and 233% higher than December, when GGR reached just MOP$3.48 billion (US$431 million). Gaming revenues had plummeted to as low as MOP$398 million (US$49 million) in July, at the height of Macau’s first major COVID-19 outbreak.
The last time Macau recorded higher GGR was January 2020, shortly before COVID restrictions were fully implemented, when revenues reached MOP$22.13 billion (US$2.74 billion).
The change in fortune for Macau’s casinos comes after the government announced the scrapping of almost all COVID-19 border restrictions as of 8 January 2023, including the removal of testing requirements for visitors from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It also disposed of its mandatory hotel quarantine for foreign tourists, who currently need only provide a negative COVID test upon arrival.
With ferry and bus services between Macau and Hong Kong also resuming for the first time in almost three years, Chinese New Year visitor numbers reached 451,057 during the seven-day Golden Week holiday – a near 300% increase over CNY 2022 although still only 37.5% of the the 2.21 million visitors during Golden Week in 2019.
While visitation remains well below pre-COVID levels, Las Vegas Sands executives said during their 4Q22 earnings call last week that earnings were comfortably outperforming raw visitor numbers.
“We’re more than breakeven and into very positive territory,” LVS Chairman and CEO, Rob Goldstein, told analysts.
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