New gov’t mandates limit group travelers
In anticipation of the upcoming resumption of e-visas and group travel visas to enter the city, the local government has announced guidelines on capacity limits and Covid testing frequency. This has led to rises in the city’s gaming shares.
According to the Health Bureau’s (SSM) new mandates, there will be a limit in the number of people participating in each tour, tour guides must take Covid-19 nucleic acid tests (NATs) once every seven days and both staff and participants must complete a 10-day travel history declaration.
Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng announced last month that tours will restart gradually from the provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian and the municipality of Shanghai, with Guangdong being at the frontier.
Some travel agencies in China have unveiled Macau’s travel packages in advance, which show that the earliest departure date is November 13.
According to the bureau, measures must include temperature checks, the wearing of masks and recorded itineraries.
The SSM is also making it mandatory for operators of group tours to keep the contacts of their group participants for at least 14 days.
Group travelers who have been in contact with Covid-19 patients 10 days prior the arrival to the SAR will be prevented from entering, while those confirmed tourists will be asked to declare their travel history for the past 10 days.
The issuance of group package tours to Macau and eVisas under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) is shaping up to be a massive boost for the SAR’s gaming and tourism operators, which have been negatively affected since the pandemic began in early 2020.
However, the city will continue to face headwinds amid the current turmoil in the gaming sector as mainland China and Macau continue to adhere to their zero-Covid policies. This means that a small number of cases may lead to lockdowns and travel restrictions.
However, group tours have never been a major source of profit for Macau casinos because they do not spend large amounts.
Stocks rally
The fresh mandates have led to a rise in gaming shares, with Wynn Macau’s 4.73% rise leading, followed by Sands China (+2.33%) and Melco (+2.24%) and SJM Holdings (+2.07%).
Galaxy and MGM also rose slightly by 1.50% and 0.62%, respectively.
MGTO: Work for package tours underway
Work for the resumption of mainland group tourists to Macau is underway, Cheng Wai Tong, deputy director of the Macau Government Tourism Bureau, told the media on the sidelines of an event yesterday. The tourism industry is also ready to receive and organize groups, he said.
Due to the new Covid-19 case recorded yesterday in Fai Chi Kei, the official said that the bureau is in full adherence to Health Bureau guidelines.
However, he emphasized that the Macau authorities have epidemic prevention plans, circuit breaker mechanisms, or countermeasures for stranded cases due to the epidemic. According to him, it still needs to be assessed whether the epidemic will affect mainland group tourists coming to Macau.
