Macau Gaming Revenues Down 97% As Travel Restrictions Take Toll

April gross gaming revenues at Macau casinos are down a staggering 96.8% year-on-year to MOP$754 million (US$87 million), as tourism to the gambling mecca has virtually disappeared due to travel restrictions barring the entry of all non-residents aside from those from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Meanwhile, China’s Guangdong Province introduced a mandatory 14-day quarantine for anyone returning from Macau, including Guangdong residents, according to Inside Asian Gaming.

For the first four months of 2020, Macau’s GGR is down 68.7% year-on-year to MOP$31.24 billion compared with MOP$99.74 billion over the same period in 2019.

Empty casinos

As IAG notes in a separate Friday report, Macau casinos are virtual ghost towns – with the MGM Macau seeing the most foot traffic for the third week in a row out of 11 properties surveyed.

On average, each gaming floor had around five players (37%) on tables and nine players (63%) on slots. MGM Macau was by far the busiest with 23 players at the tables and eight on slots, while The Venetian Macao came in second best with eight at the tables and 15 on slots. Once again, Sands Cotai Central was quietest with only a single slots player. –Inside Asian Gaming

Macau has had 45 confirmed COVID-19 cases,  3,792 suspected cases, 37 recoveries, and zero deaths.