Macau Hotel Association | Hotels to ‘stand together’ on gov’t’s stimulus package

The Macau Hotel Association (MHA) is set to meet tomorrow to discuss the possible promotional roll-outs it could offer in line with the upcoming e-voucher scheme implemented by the government from May.
Under the government’s third stimulus scheme, each resident can receive a one-off MOP200 to subsidize their staycation.
According to Rutger Verschuren, president of the Board of Directors of MHA, the hotels are “very pleased with the rollout of benefits for Macau residents, which will surely support our business, as well as other Macau business[es].”
However, the executive also stressed that the majority of hotels are still facing serious losses, despite a slow recovery taking place.
“Hotel patrons should not be misled by thinking that all is okay when seeing busy restaurants, as food and beverage business is usually not very profitable, unlike room business which has been hit as never seen before,” Verschuren told the Times.
Though hotel occupancies are on the rise, the room rates are a fraction of what they were in 2019.
Latest data shows that in January, the average occupancy rate of guest rooms in the city stood at 40.3%, securing a total of 446,900 hotel visitors – a 40.7% plunge when compared to January 2020 before the beginning of the pandemic in Macau.
During the same month in 2019, hotel rooms occupancy were at 92.9%.
With such plunge, the association cannot merely wait for the government’s instruction on its requirement from the hotels with the stimulus package program.
“So far we understand that the program is still being reviewed and revised, so we have to wait a little,” said Verschuren.
“As soon as we are fully briefed on exactly what the government requires from the hotels and how the program will be rolled out, we will enthusiastically and immediately participate. You can imagine that the price war among the hotels is raging and [businesses] are competing among each other for business – but with this government stimulus we stand together,” he added.

Reviving the industry
through staycations
Cheung Kin Chung, president of the Macau Hoteliers and Innkeepers Association, recently remarked that the government’s stimulus plan regarding hotel staycations and local tours will promote the revival of the industry.
Local tours are a crucial part of the government’s latest stimulus scheme, which was announced last Monday following the popularity of last year’s measures. The government added staycation incentives to the scheme this year in order to also benefit the hospitality industry.
Cheung stressed that the policy will likely incentivize spending by residents and facilitate the hospitality industry’s recovery from the downturn that began last year.
According to Cheung, the average hotel occupancy rate has risen to 50% already. He expects the rate to further climb by about 10% in response to stimulus measures.
In response to the government’s stimulus scheme, according to Cheung, the industry will very likely offer more attractive staycation packages to residents. For example, for the price of a night’s stay, the customers may receive coupons or reward.
Moreover, hotels may work with other industries such as catering and entertainment to offer cross-industry privileges to benefit different industries and further incentivize spending.
He highlighted the fact that although the hospitality industry was severely hit by the travel restrictions and economic downturn, it has been closely following the government’s health measures and encouragement to retain its employees.
Last year, under the Macao Government Tourism Office’s (MGTO) “Macao Ready Go! Local Tours” scheme, each Macau resident was sponsored with a total of MOP560 to join two tours, with MOP280 allocated to each. The 15 itineraries in the scheme are separated into two categories – six for “Community-based Tours” and nine for “Leisure Tours”.

*with additional reporting from Anthony Lam