This week’s casino news is squarely focused on Macau as all sorts of key happenings have been coming to light. We’ll start with the June revenues, which have been quite disappointing.
Macau Casinos Have Worst Month Of 2022
The road to recovery for Macau casinos has been increasingly difficult and the June numbers reflect that. The gaming revenues have been released and June has proven to be one of their worst months yet.
It was just reported that they brought in roughly $310 million throughout the month in gross gaming revenue, their worst numbers since September of 2020. This represents a large 26 percent drop compared to May 2022 and a 62 percent drop compared to June 2021.
To further put their struggles into perspective, Macau has totaled $3.25 billion in revenue from gamblers during the first six months of 2022. Compared to the first half of 2019, Macau brought in $18.5 billion. The numbers haven’t even been close.
The COVID-19 pandemic is still very much ongoing in Macau. Some of the casinos have been able to stay open at points throughout the month but most of the employees have been consistently sent home. Some of these casinos have even put their employees on unpaid leave until the situation goes away. With the majority of Macau still locked down, the revenue numbers will continue to struggle.
Macau Workforces Take Major Hit
Sticking with Macau, the gaming hub hasn’t been able to rebound from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic like other places have. Some believed that the recent relaxation of restrictions in China was a good sign of Macau potentially getting back to normal. However, a request has just been put in which will reduce casino workforces by up to 90 percent.
It has been rumored that some of these casinos have even offered incentives to their employees in order for them to avoid the property during a specific period of time. One company, SJM Holdings Ltd., mentioned a “special home-leave program.”
COVID continues to devastate the economy in Macau. Throughout the past month, Macau has been completely closing down its commercial industry outside of its casino properties.
China Shortens Quarantine Time For Travelers
One possible help for Macau is the fact that China has just cut down its quarantine requirement for inbound travelers. Instead of the usual 14-day quarantine, they have announced that visitors will only need to stay inside for seven days now.
This new decision is only going to benefit Macau as it’s a destination and nobody wants to go on vacation and have to quarantine for two weeks. Macau has struggled to keep its tourism numbers high due to increased restrictions – including those quarantine regulations. This new rule marks the first nationwide COVID-19 change in China since March of 2020. However, not all of the restrictions are going to be reduced or taken away. In fact, many of these will still be in place for the foreseeable future while they operate under a “Zero COVID” policy.
President Xi Jinping could also influence much of the country to try and return to normal. He announced earlier that he would be leaving the mainland after spending approximately 900 days in the People’s Republic. He will be visiting Hong Kong first, the last time he traveled was in January of 2020.