Gaming | May GGR surges 492% y-o-y, beating analysts’ expectations

The city’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) for May has surpassed the expectations of analysts as tourists from mainland China recorded a surge over the Golden Week holiday.
According to data from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), GGR surged 492% in May to MOP10.4 billion – beating the median analyst estimate of a 467% increase year-on-year.
The accumulated revenue in the first four months of this year reached MOP42.487 billion, an upturn of 28.7% year-on-year.
From May 1 to 5, the SAR welcomed 167,000 tourists, with the average daily tourist tally reaching as high as 33,000.
The arrivals also exceeded the forecast of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) as the bureau only expected to see some 30,000 arrivals per day.
In comparison, the daily traveler number was 158.2% higher than during the Spring Festival Golden Week holiday this year and 25.4% more than in April.
Due to the rebound in tourist arrivals in May, some analysts expect that the number of travelers during the five-day May Day holiday from May 1 to 5 is expected to reach 40-50% of 2019 levels (also considered pre-pandemic levels), according JP Morgan.
The brokerage predicted that the GGR daily run-rate would be between MOP400 and MOP500 million during the holiday, compared to over MOP1 billion during the same period in 2019.
Following the Golden Week holiday, the city’s gaming revenue dropped to around MOP250 million a day – 10% lower than the previous month, according to Credit Suisse analysts.
This month’s revenue increased 24% from the previous month, but is still down 60% from pre-pandemic levels in May 2019.
Since February this year, the monthly gaming revenue has grown year-on-year. In April, monthly gaming revenue soared 1,014.4% year-on-year.
The city’s GGR saw a year-on-year decrease in 2020 due to the impact of Covid-19 and resulting travel restrictions to the SAR. Borders have been closed to non-China residents since March last year.
Until now, the government has been ramping up efforts to promote the city as a safe and healthy travel destination, through hosting “Macao Week” in different Chinese cities.
Kicking off tomorrow, the “Macao Week in Shanghai” roadshow will present a series of promotions in a bid to attract visitors to visit the SAR.
However, tourism in the city has been affected by Covid-19 outbreaks in the neighboring cities of Guangzhou, Foshan and Shenzhen, with the number of recent tourist arrivals already seeing a drop.
The MGTO chief Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes noted yesterday that visitor arrivals on Sunday and Monday were 16,000 and 20,000 respectively – lower than the average 25,000 to 30,000 arrivals in May.