Financial Secretary remains confident in this year’s GGR forecast

Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong said that the government has not changed its forecast on this year’s gross gambling revenue (GGR).
The current forecast made by the government is MOP130 billion.
Additionally, the senior official informed the general public that, in lieu of “having a superstition on figures”, members of society should get together and work hard to prevent the spread of infection amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
It was taken as a hint to encourage members of the public to work diligently towards achieving the target.
The government has reiterated that, in order to attract more tourists from the mainland, the city needs to be free from risk and infections.
When new cases broke out in mainland China, entrants from affected areas were required to enter centralized quarantine facilities when they arrived in Macau, which discouraged tourists from those areas from visiting Macau.
The city’s GGR for the first half of the year is MOP49 billion, a 25% drop from forecasts. This means that the city’s casinos need to earn MOP81 billion in the second half of the year in order to achieve the government’s forecast.
Besides reaffirming the forecast on the yearly GGR figure, Lei is also confident about the economy’s performance in the second half of the year, which he referred to as the “Golden Period.”
For example, he said that in the second half of the year there will be the National Day Golden Week and the annual Macau Grand Prix.
Moreover, the government will continue its efforts in attracting more tourists to Macau, with events such as the Macao Week pop-up roadshows in different cities in mainland China. Although the tourist arrival figures in June have registered a 40% decrease, tourist arrivals have bounced back since the start of July — especially on July 16 and 17, when more than 30,000 tourist arrivals were recorded each day.
In addition, tourists have stayed longer in Macau, boosting the occupancy rate of local hotels and resorts.
The government will continue to promote Macau in mainland cities with direct flights to Macau. Furthermore, it will strengthen its efforts in Tourism+, Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition (MICE), as well as electronic businesses.
Previous efforts have yielded positive outcomes, the senior official stressed.
He recalled that some mainland vloggers have previously made videos to promote Macau, necessitating an overhaul to the marketing strategy in the city. Lei said that the government has proactively followed up on the strategy.
Lei also took the opportunity to encourage local business operators to be innovative and creative, because “business owners and operators cannot only be responsive” — it is important they be proactive as well.
He reminded local businesses to continuously update and upgrade their products and services to entice tourists to return.
Lei said that the government has achieved stabilization of the local economy by pushing forward infrastructure projects and the e-consumption subsidy scheme.
He added that the quantity of cargo imports in the first quarter has doubled year-on-year, affirming that local demand has been robust.
In response to rumors about the suspected closure of the casino at the Holiday Inn Macau, Lei refuted the rumors, stressing that the opening and closing of local casinos requires government approval.