Quarantines, border closures drop Macao gaming revenue 79.7%
Coronavirus quarantines and border restrictions are continuing to take their toll on casinos in Macao.
The region’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau on Wednesday said its 41 casino properties reported gross revenue of $655.5 million in March, a 79.7 percent decrease from March 2019.
It was the sixth straight month of declines for the market.
Bloomberg reported that although 80 percent of the region’s gaming tables had reopened in March following an unprecedented 15-day closure of casinos ordered by the government of Macao to slow the spread of the virus, customers were scarce because of a 14-day quarantine period ordered by the government of nearby Guangdong province.
An analyst from J.P. Morgan said the quarantine was “effectively the same as a casino shut-down.”
In addition, China — the largest source of VIP and mass gamblers for Macau — continued its freeze on individual and group visas as part of virus-containment measures, Bloomberg reported.
The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reported gross revenue down 60 percent to $3.802 billion for the quarter. The worst of the three months was February, when revenue was down 87.8 percent to $387.1 million.
In the last three months of 2019, before the pandemic took hold, visitation to Macao was slowed by unrest and protests in nearby Hong Kong.
Three Las Vegas-based gaming companies operate casinos in Macao.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.
