Average daily revenue came in at US$32.4 million, that’s 3% higher than in December. “The month continued to be negatively impacted by visitation bottlenecks due to visa processing and COVID test requirements and by weakness in VIP volumes,” Bernstein said.
Premium mass was the best performing segment, while base mass continues to be hampered by low levels of visitation.
Bernstein is expecting reduced numbers to Macau over the next few weeks, as Beijing continues to enforce localized lockdowns due to new cases of COVID clusters.
The Chinese government has urged citizens to stay at home over the key Chinese New Year period in an attempt to stop the spread of disease.
Despite the latest hiccup on the road to recovery, Bernstein is still optimistic about the outlook for the second half of the year as COVID constraints are eased. It expects GGR to increase to two thirds of the 2019 level in 2021, which would be up 225% from 2020.
For the month of February, the estimate is for a drop in the mid-to-high 60%.
The real catalyst for improvement in Macau visitor numbers is likely to be when China returns to same-day digital processing for individual visit schemes, it adds.
Source: Asia Gaming Brief
