The easing of local COVID-19 restrictions and the dropping of mandatory hotel quarantine measures for those entering Zhuhai from Macau saw gross gaming revenues rebound to MOP$2.19 billion (US$271 million) in August – considerably higher than the record low MOP$398 million (US$49 million) recorded in July.
But the August result was still well below the MOP$24.3 billion (US$3.0 billion) in GGR Macau’s concessionaires generated in August 2019 and was the second lowest monthly GGR total of 2022 so far. It was also 50.7% lower than August 2021, when GGR totalled MOP$4.44 billion (US$550 million).
For the first eight months of 2022 combined, Macau’s GGR fell 53.4% year-on-year and 85.4% compared with the same period in 2019 to MOP$28.9 billion (US$3.58 billion).
As reported by IAG, Macau’s first major outbreak of COVID-19 began on 18 June, resulting in a citywide lockdown and multiple rounds of mandatory COVID testing. Macau’s casinos were also ordered closed for a total of 12 days, eventually reopening on 22 July.
Zhuhai which had implemented a 7-day mandatory hotel requirement on all Macau arrivals on 28 June, eventually dropped the measure on 3 August.
While visitation has remained subdued since, the average number of visitor arrivals climbed to an average of 14,737 visitors per day in the week from 20 to 26 August, followed by a monthly high of 18,000 last Saturday 27 August. However, this still falls well below the average 108,000 visitors who entered Macau each day in 2019.
