The gaming revenue earned by the city’s casinos during the Chinese New Year vacation has basically equalled that of the same period last year, Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac told local media yesterday. “From the third to the fourteenth day of the Chinese New Year [February 10 to February 21] we observed that it [casino revenue] had equalled the same period last year,” Mr Leong said on the sidelines of a Macau Association of Banks’ event yesterday, noting that conventionally Chinese visitors started taking trips to Macau on the third day of the New Year vacation. “As the gaming revenue earned during Chinese New Year is almost equal to that of last year, we estimate that the gaming revenue of February will maintain at a similar level to December 2015 and January,” the Secretary said. Gross gaming revenue of the city’s casinos in January fell 21.4 per cent year-on-year to MOP18.67 billion (US$2.33 billion), a 20th month losing streak of gaming earnings here. Economic vitality The city has seen an uptick year-on-year in the occupancy rate across 3-star to 5-star hotels during the ‘Golden Week’ of the Chinese New Year holiday lasting from February 7 to 13, the latest available data from Macao Government Tourism Office shows. While the average occupancy of 3-star to 5-star hotels during Golden Week was 93.4 per cent, that of 5-star hotels – many of them located in local casino-resorts – rose by nearly 3 per cent year-on-year to 96.2 per cent, according to official data. Visitor arrivals during Golden Week, inclusive of foreign employees and students, also increased 4.7 per cent year-on-year to over 1.07 million. “But apart from casino revenue, I think we should also focus more on the businesses made by the local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) during the Chinese New Year vacation and the spending made by both our visitors and residents,” Mr Leong remarked. “For that we’ve already requested the related departments to study the subject because the SMEs are also key to our economic vitality.” Bullish on long term While acknowledging that the city’s economic growth will still be impacted by reduced gaming earnings this year, the Secretary remarked that the government is confident about the gaming companies’ long-term investment interests in Macau. “For different reasons gaming companies have made changes to realising their investment plans,” Mr. Leong remarked when asked to comment on the delay in opening of the Cotai property of MGM China. “But we can see that the [gaming] companies are optimistic in Macau. They have been doing a lot of work on promotions, attracting their target clients and expanding the client base. As they sort out their problems, they will continue to invest in Macau. For this, we are very confident,” he added. MGM China announced last week that the opening of its casino-resort project in Cotai, originally scheduled to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year, has been moved to the first quarter of 2017. The firm said that it is a “strategic decision” that would give it more time to fine-tune their offerings amid current market conditions.
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