Sectors upbeat for November events as boost in gaming, tourism arrivals expected

The tourism industry expects a daily average of 100,000 arrivals during the upcoming 70th Macau Grand Prix, forecasting that even hotels on the Macau Peninsula will be at 90% occupancy.

It also envisioned that the spending power of tourists is comparable to that of conventions and exhibitions visitors.

The two-week Grand Prix is being held in conjunction with the 23rd Macau Food Festival, which will be held Nov. 17 to Dec. 3.

Andy Wu, chairman of the Travel Industry Council of Macau, attributed the group’s expectations to the fact that this year’s edition of the Grand Prix will feature the comeback of international races FIA Formula 3 and Macau GT World Cups and TCR, which were put on pause due to the pandemic.

The celebration of the 70th anniversary of the two-weekend races this November will make headlines, especially the Macau Motorcycle GP which will hold its 55th edition this year.

The 11 racing events expected to take place starting Nov. 11 and continuing over six days, will begin on the first weekend with the return of the Formula 4 single-seaters from the 2023 F4 Chinese Championship, which is in its ninth season this year.

Pun Weng Kun, Sports Bureau director said yesterday that 90% of the tickets for the last day were sold out.

This year’s event includes six days of track action and the budget has grown from MOP180 million last year to MOP260 million.

Meanwhile, a note from Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd. stated that the Grand Prix is slated to boost November casino earnings, as will the Westlife concert.

Forecasting gross gaming revenue of MOP16.9 billion, the estimates also included the concerts held last month, which recorded the highest post-pandemic revenues, also assisted by the National Day Golden Week.

The estimated figure is about 74% of pre-Covid levels.