A move by Macau’s concessionaires to limit the provision of free snacks to visitors may impact footfall but is unlikely to have any material affect on gaming revenues, according to investment bank Morgan Stanley.
In a note published last week after Macau’s gaming regulator, the DICJ, urged operators to stop giving away free snacks due to the impact the practice was allegedly having on local SMEs (small and medium enterprises), analysts Praveen Choudhary and Gareth Leung noted that snacks would no longer be given away to non-gamblers and non-members although free drinks were still available to players holding a membership card with at least one point on it.
Inside Asian Gaming reported last week on the government’s crackdown, which Choudhary and Leung said was also likely behind a decline in Macau gaming stocks of between 3% and 7% that day.
However, they added, “We think this could hurt footfall to casinos but will only have a small impact on GGR since the new measure will mainly discourage visitors who are in a casino for free snacks but never gamble. Gamblers can still get free snacks easily.
“Macau GGR recovery has been driven by higher-end gamblers post-COVID. This is showcased by Mass GGR per Chinese visitation being 34% higher than 2019 in 1Q24.”
As reported by IAG, some mainland tourists had been taking advantage of free food and drinks offers and of “zero-dollar tours” to Macau, by which they arrive on free shuttle buses to the casinos, pick up their free snacks, then return to the border control points using those same shuttle buses.
This way of traveling had become increasingly popular, and some Hong Kong-based Key Opinion Leaders have promoted this way of spending a day in Macau without paying a single dollar.
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