Golden Week | National Day marked with many events, less tourists expected

A series of activities will be hosted today to celebrate the National Day, including a flag raising ceremony and a reception, to celebrate the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

At 8 a.m. there will be a flag raising ceremony held at Golden Lotus Square. The ceremony is to be attended by the Chief Executive and representatives from the Liaison Office, the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Macau Garrison of the People’s Liberation Army.

The Chief Executive will then attend a National Day reception held at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre at 9.30 a.m. Later in the day, Chui will preside at the start of a run to commemorate National Day, and later present awards to those that participated.

A number of public departments will hold events to celebrate the anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. Firework displays – held by the Macao Government Tourism Office – will take place on the waterfront near the Macau Tower at 9 p.m. and at 9.40 p.m. today.

An acrobatic show titled “Rainbow over the Silk Road” – presented by the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the Liaison Office – will be held today at 8 p.m. at the Macau Forum.

Meanwhile, several reports indicate that the gaming and retail industries are facing dimmer prospects for the Golden Week holiday. According to a Bloomberg report, the main reasons for the expected slowdown are the slowing Chinese economy and the ongoing trade war between China and the United States.

About 40 percent of rooms in the territory’s 3-to-5-star hotels have been fully booked as of Friday, three days before China’s week-long holiday starts, according to online booking websites including Agoda and Expedia. That compares with 80 percent at roughly the same time last year. Hotels in Macau are charging about double or triple their usual prices, a lower premium than in 2017 when some suites were listed at five times the typical rate.

Prices for some of the most expensive rooms last year reached about HKD10,000 (USD1,280) a night. This year, a room at the Mandarin Oriental in Macau is available for as little as HKD5,300, while the Parisian is showing a rate of as low as HKD2,098.

Macau has seen softening growth in gaming revenue since the second quarter. Analysts have cut their estimates for this year and 2019, as a weakening yuan, China’s economic slowdown and escalating trade tensions with the U.S. threaten to derail a two-year rebound in Macau.

“Expectations remain modest for October” as there are worries surrounding macroeconomic factors, said Grant Govertsen, an analyst at Union Gaming Securities Asia Ltd.

Typhoon Mangkhut didn’t help. Gaming revenue forecasts for September were cut in half to 6.5 percent, according to a survey of seven analysts by Bloomberg News, after the typhoon ripped through Macau mid-September and forced a 33-hour shutdown of casinos.

If the forecast bears out, it would be the first month since February that gaming growth slowed to single digits. Analysts forecast October will follow the weakening trend with growth of 5 percent.

The Golden Week is considered peak season for Macau, with junkets flush with high rollers and casinos offering new entertainment options.

Poor air quality predicted for golden week

The Macau Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) has predicted bad air quality throughout the Chinese National Day holiday. On Friday, SMG called on people with respiratory problems or heart disease to reduce their physical exertion and to avoid outdoor activities. In addition, SMG has predicted that there will be light showers on the morning of October 1.