Macau’s daily gross gaming revenue fell from an estimated MOP$910 million (US$113 million) during the Labor Day Golden Week to MOP$578 million (US$72 million) in the seven days since, a decline described by investment bank JP Morgan as “a bit weaker” than preferred but within post-holiday expectations.
In a Monday note, analysts DS Kim, Mufan Shi and Selina Li said the past week’s result put GGR for the first 12 days combined at an estimated MOP$8.6 billion (US$1.07 billion) or MOP$716 million (US$89 million) per day, with mass GGR remaining at around 120% of pre-COVID levels.
The investment bank’s May GGR forecast remains unchanged at MOP$19.5 billion to MOP$20 billion (US$2.42 billion to US$2.48 billion), potentially making it the best month since borders reopened in January 2023.
JP Morgan also highlighted Saturday’s news that Beijing has added another eight cities to the list eligible for Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) visas for travel to Macau and Hong Kong, taking the total number of eligible cities to 59.
While the cities in Question – Taiyuan, Hohhot, Harbin, Lhasa, Lanzhou, Xining, Yinchuan and Urumqi – are not expected to significantly impact Macau visitation, the analysts noted that the favorable policy support from the central government is positive in nature.
“We think it is always the thought that counts, when it comes to China policy,” they wrote.
