Macau saw a sharp one-week surge in gambling revenues.

Due to the city's decision to relax a number of coronavirus-related travel restrictions with neighbouring China over the course of the last week, the 41 casinos in Macau allegedly saw their combined gross gaming revenues soar substantially.

The cumulative daily gross gambling income in the former Portuguese colony increased over the seven days starting October 18 to hit nearly $19.6 million, according to a report from Inside Asian gambling, which first made the announcement. The source explained that this figure followed Macau's Friday arrival of 25,252 tourists from mainland China, the largest one-day total since the decision to demand a two-week quarantine period for anyone travelling between the two territories on September 25.

Quick reaction:

Some of the biggest and most prestigious casinos in the world may be found in Macau, including the $3.2 billion Studio City Macau development by Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited and the renowned Casino Grand Lisboa from SJM Holdings Limited. The city's administration reportedly implemented a new safety measure last month in response to a minor coronavirus epidemic that mandated mainland visitors spend at least two weeks in isolation.

Immediate growth

According to Inside Asian Gaming, this safety measure was removed as of October 19 and caused a sudden uptick in overall gross gaming revenues, but the total for the first 24 days of the month is still running around 86% lower than it did a year ago at about $362 million. Additionally, Sandford C Bernstein Limited allegedly reported that the neighborhood's daily associated average, which is about $15.1 million, is 38% less than September's median, which was about $24.4 million.

Hardening using a high-roller:

Further stating that daily VIP volumes for Macau's casinos are currently down by 45% month-over-month with the mass-market sector witnessing an analogous 40% diminution, according to analysts Kelsey Zhu, Louis Li, and Vitaly Umansky of Sandford C Bernstein Limited. However, the three allegedly revealed that the daily cross-border entry/exit figure for the first 24 hours of quarantine-free travel with China on October 20 came in only 8% below the September average and represented an improvement of 48% when compared with the August median, despite the fact that this latter month was similarly impacted by a range of coronavirus-related precautions.

According to a statement from the three at Sandford C. Bernstein Limited...

"We anticipate that gross gaming revenues will decline by more than 80% in October 2021 compared to October 2019; nevertheless, we anticipate that gross gaming revenue growth will continue in November and December, with more significant elimination of travel obstacles not probable until the following year. In the long run, restarts of the Individual Visit Scheme eVisa, group visas, and Hong Kong trips will be required to increase gross gaming revenues.