As revealed several days ago, Macau casino operators have seen rather disastrous gross gaming revenues for the month of April. In fact, the thirty-nine casinos which operate in Macau saw their gross gaming revenues for the previous month massively by around 96.8% when compared to the same period last year.
The casinos’ gross gaming revenues for April hit just around $94.42 million due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis and related travel restrictions alongside other measures that were implemented by the government of Macau to prevent the spread of the highly-contagious virus strain. At the time of writing this, the COVID-19 pandemic or the coronavirus pandemic of coronavirus disease has affected over 3.5 million individuals globally while over 247,000 individuals lost their lives due to the coronavirus disease and related health complications.
The coronavirus outbreak was identified back in December last year in the Chinese city of Wuhan. It was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization back on the 11th of March. Needless to say, the coronavirus pandemic has caused extreme socioeconomic disruptions globally including the largest global recession after the Great Depression which took place in the 1930s. The ongoing coronavirus crisis has also caused the cancellation and postponements of cultural, religious as well as sporting and other events alongside other negative consequences. Every single industry has been affected by the ongoing coronavirus crisis and the casino gaming industry is no exception.
Catastrophic Figures for April
Back to the Macau casino industry, it is one of the biggest, most profitable industries of this kind in the world with a number of iconic venues operating here. However, the thirty-nine casinos which are active in the area have not been immune to the rather catastrophic consequences of the ongoing coronavirus crisis and related safety measures employed such as mandatory lockdowns and travel restrictions.
According to one report released by GGRAsia, the official figures from the former Portuguese enclave’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau suggest that the casinos in the area saw a massive decline of over 85% in their gross gaming revenues when compared to the month of March when these figures hit around $658 million. This means that the gross gaming revenue figure for the four months of 2020 is around 68.7% behind the figure recorded for the same four-month period last year which was approximately $3.9 billion.
GGRAsia in its report also cited Sanford C Bernstein Limited international brokerage which declared that this extreme drop in gross gaming revenues for April had been driven by travel restrictions which are in place since March. The same international brokerage company also declared that the substantial drop in gross gaming revenues for Macau casinos in April had been also driven by disappointing hold rates. The investment company also shared that the thirty-day period had seen VIP high-roller sections within the city’s iconic casino facilities top mass-market figures with significant volatility and higher hold rates.
Estimated Visitation Also Significantly Lowered
The same brokerage company also reported that its estimated visitation into the former Portuguese enclave from areas in mainland China is lowered by around 95% when compared to the same period last year. Nonetheless, the company expects to see coronavirus pandemic-related measures including travel restrictions to start being lifted in the following several weeks. Commenting on the news, Credit Suisse AG and Kenneth Fong said that Macau’s casino gaming market will most likely bounce back quickly once the government in China starts allowing mainland China citizens to travel into Macau. Kenneth Fong also added that Macau’s casino market’s mass recovery will most likely be gradual as gross gaming revenues bounce back to 80% in the following months.
