Some Macau Hotels Say No Rooms Vacant 3 days of Easter

Ten luxury hotels at Macau casino resorts are already indicating, based on checks by GGRAsia, that they have no rooms available to the general public for three days over Easter. The period is a holiday season in Hong Kong and Macau, but not on the Chinese mainland, the latter Macau’s most important source market for tourists.

This year in Hong Kong, the Easter break runs from April 7, a Friday; to April 10, a Monday, inclusive. Historically Hong Kong customers have supplied about 15 percent of Macau’s casino gross gaming revenue, according to investment analyst commentary.

GGRAsia’s occupancy survey drew on information collated from the official booking websites of the relevant casino-resort hotels located on Macau peninsula and Cotai.

As of Thursday, out of 19 five-star hotels at Macau’s casino resorts, 10 hotels are alrady showing no availability for at least three nights of the Easter holiday break.

The 10 properties with no availability include: Grand Lisboa on Macau peninsula, promoted by SJM Holdings Ltd; MGM Macau downtown, and MGM Cotai, promoted by MGM China Holdings Ltd; and Wynn Macau on the peninsula, promoted by Wynn Macau Ltd.

The others with no rooms available are: the hotel towers of Nüwa and Morpheus Hotel at City of Dreams Macau on Cotai, promoted by Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd; and Galaxy Hotel, Banyan Tree Macau, Hotel Okura Macau, and The Ritz-Carlton, Macau, at the Galaxy Macau complex, promoted by Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd.

Nightly rates for those rooms that are available for the Easter holiday at Cotai establishments – and based on a standard room with either a king bed or double beds – cost more than MOP2,000 (US$247), excluding taxes and fees. The nightly rates are highest during the first two days of the Easter break.

One senior gaming and lodging executive in the Macau market told GGRAsia on Friday that – from their company’s perspective – not all the hotel room stock was available during Easter.

“On the supply side, the situation is improving; albeit, still not catching up to demand. Unfortunately, try as we may, we don’t see any chance of any ‘meaningful’ improvement until June at the earliest,” said the senior executive, referring to labour constraints that weigh on the hotel room-inventory in the Macau market.

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), said on Wednesday the city’s average hotel occupancy rate during the Easter holiday could reach as high as “80 to 90 percent”.

Most of the inbound visitors coming to Macau during that break were likely to be from Hong Kong, she noted in her comments. The tourism boss also expected the average number of inbound visitor arrivals during the Easter break to reach circa “60,000” a day.