Macau saw a year-on-year decrease of 68.2% in the total number of inbound visitors during the Chinese New Year (11-16 Feb), with a total of 77,400 visitor arrivals during the six-day holiday, according to statistics from the Macau Government Tourism Office.
Mainland visitors still made up the bulk of Macau’s source of tourists, accounting for 90 percent of the total visitor arrivals. The number of mainland tourists fell by 49.6% year-on-year during the Chinese New Year, but the number saw a slight increase of 5.3% on the 5th day of CNY.
Despite the falling visitor number, gaming stocks in Macau generally performed well thanks to cautious optimism for the CNY holiday.
However, a reporter from Allin Media visited all the major casinos today (17 Feb) and found that visitors were still relatively sparse and only about half of the gaming tables were in operation although the number of casino patrons had indeed increased compared with the previous few months.
Under the epidemic prevention guidelines, casino patrons have to present their Covid-19 nucleic acid test certificates as well as their identity documents before entering a casino.
In most casinos, about half of the gaming tables were in operation today but only half of them were occupied.
Apart from casinos, eateries and shops in major gaming resorts also saw increased customer footfall during the CNY holiday, though total customer footfall was nowhere close to the pre-pandemic level.
Among the places visited by the reporter today, Galaxy Macau, a subsidiary of Galaxy Entertainment (27), seemed to have the most visitors. Nearly half of its gaming tables were occupied, with a maximum of three patrons per table due to epidemic prevention restrictions. However, most of the slot machines were vacant.
The food court at Galaxy Macau was full of diners today and people were even queuing outside a new stall that was recently opened.
The Venetian under Sands China (1928) also saw increased customer footfall today. About 60% of its gaming tables were in operation but there seemed to be less patrons compared with Galaxy Macau. Its slot machines were also mostly vacant. However, the shopping mall at the Venetian was full of customers as it offered Alipay discounts.
