Macau’s GGR in September projected to be $1.49 billion

For the first 24 days of September, Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) is projected to be about MOP 12 billion ($1.49 billion), or MOP 500 million ($62.1 million) on average each day, according to JP Morgan. Although there has been a little week-over-week improvement, a huge typhoon that hit Macau earlier this month caused temporary casino closures during certain hours.

Investors are worried about the upcoming holiday, according to JP Morgan analysts, since some hotel rooms are still available on OTAs. However, they did stress that it is hard to predict Golden Week outcomes based on hotel availability since holiday GGR is more heavily influenced by player quality than quantity.

The current occupancy and sales rate for casino hotels is above 90%. Popular OTAs still have some inventory available, particularly for recently opened resorts like W at Studio City and Andaz at Galaxy Macau. This was seen by JP Morgan as being typical, especially at OTA levels with pre-purchased lodging.

The normal Golden Week lasts seven days, but this year it lasts eight. With a 15-20% increase in hotel inventory above pre-COVID levels, this is the first holiday since the reopening where all rooms are accessible. The gaming industry anticipates a successful Golden Week, and JP Morgan believes that Macau’s mass market will fully recover in October, with 3Q23 GGR perhaps recovering to pre-pandemic levels.

Macau’s tourism authorities predict that during China’s National Day Golden Week, some 100,000 tourists would arrive each day. In the first eight months of 2023, there were 17.6 million tourists visiting Macau; by the end of the year, it is anticipated that there would be 24 million tourists there.

Original story by: Asia Gaming Brief