Macau GGR down less than 90% in September

Gaming analysts expect it will be the first time since March that GGR has fallen less than 90 per cent year-on-year.

Macau.- Gaming experts believe September will be the first month since March in which the year-on-year drop in gross gaming revenues (GGR) will be less than 90 per cent, signalling the beginning of a recovery for the local gaming industry. 

In August, the year-on-year fall was 94.5 per cent due to the continued impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The total drop in GGR for the first eight months of 2020 totalled 81.6 per cent, with revenue amounting to MOP36.3 billion (US$4.58 billion). 

Bloomberg pooled 11 expert analysts who estimated that the year-on-year fall for September will be between 70 and 88 per cent, with an average of 86 per cent.

The cause for the slight recovery would appear to be the resumption of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) to travel from mainland China to Macau. It began gradually began in August and was expanded to all of China in late September.   

Average daily visitors rose from 4,000 in July to over 15,000 in September. However, less than 20 per cent of those visitors came to the city to gamble.

For October, with hopeful expectations for Golden Week, analysts estimate GGR will reach about 30 per cent of 2019 levels.

The pool of experts consulted by Bloomberg estimated an average 67 per cent year-on-year drop for October’s GGR.  

The analysts forecast a total year-on-year drop in gaming revenues of around 75 per cent, and expect GGR to recover 232 per cent in 2021.