Golden Week hotel bookings firm against economic headwinds

Hotel bookings appear satisfactory for Golden Week starting Oct. 1, though broader economic challenges could dampen demand, according to analysts.

17 of 31 hotels tracked by UBS Group AG have sold out or are unavailable for the weeklong national holiday in China, a higher number than the Labour Day period in May and last October’s Golden Week, said the UBS analysts.

However, hotel prices average 7% lower than January’s Golden Week but unchanged from a year ago in October, the analysts wrote.

They forecast gaming revenue of MOP900-950 million per day, in line with prior holiday periods.

Rutger Verschuren, the area vice president of Macau operations for Artyzen Hospitality Group, expressed cautious optimism.

“There [are] definitely two nights, I think, [] booked out. But in the casinos, they usually block rooms for the gamblers in advance.”

He said the first and second of October are particularly packed for Artyzen’s properties.

“We are not complaining at all. We’re very happy with the visitation,” Verschuren told the Times, though he acknowledged that bookings may fluctuate until days before the holiday as rooms are released back to the market.

Yet the broader economic picture could dampen spending, according to a Macquarie Equity Research note.

The note cited third-party data indicating that “Golden Week room bookings are decent, but the quality of players appears to be weak so far.”

These figures underscore the challenges in discretionary spending, and operators “are not too optimistic” about player demand during the Oct. 1-7 period, the note said. Victoria Chan