The deputy chairman of Ponte 16 operator Success Universe projects that Macau’s February daily gross gaming revenue (GGR) could record a post-COVID high, surpassing the highest daily GGR recorded last October.
Despite February having only 29 days, Hoffman Ma considers that Macau’s overall GGR this month will increase by about 10 percent, exceeding the GGR recorded in January and October last year.
Macau’s GGR amounted to MOP19.3 billion ($2.4 billion) in January, 77 percent of the MOP24.9 billion ($3 billion) reported in January 2019, before the pandemic. The January tally marked a 67 percent increase from the same month of the previous year.
Speaking to Hong Kong media outlet Sing Tao Daily, Hoffman Ma reveals that up to 90 percent of rooms in Ponte 16 have been booked for the upcoming Chinese New Year (CNY), expressing optimism about the strong tourism momentum emerging last month.
As for hotel rates, Ma points out that due to the increase in the supply of hotel rooms in Macau, the hotel room rates of Ponte 16’s hotels have not been particularly aggressive in response to the peak season of the CNY for the time being, and the hotel room rates during the CNY Golden Week this year are about MOP2,000 ($246) to more than MOP3,000 ($369) per night, which is still lower than that of 2019.
Ma’s projection aligns with the precise forecast from the president of the Macau Tourism Industry Association. Andy Wu told AGB that increasing inventory and rational consumption trends will cause crazy hotel prices to vanish during the holiday.
According to official statistical data, as of November 2023, there were 149 hotel establishments in Macau, providing 48,405 rooms. The hotel room inventory was at 41,148 rooms and 126 hotels in 2019. This implies nearly an 18 percent increase in hotel room offerings from the end of 2019 to 2024.
Due to the solid GGR in January, Citigroup raised the February GGR forecast from MOP18.5 billion ($2.3 billion) to MOP19.5 billion ($2.4 billion). This indicates that Macau’s February GGR may reach 77 percent of the 2019 level.
In addition, analysts from Morgan Stanley expect February GGR to be up 4 percent month-over-month at MOP20 billion ($2.5 billion), implying MOP691 million ($85.9 million) per day (29 days in February 2024 vs. 28 days in February 2019).
In the same report, Hoffman Ma also shared his insight regarding regional competition, following the visa-free policies that have been implemented by some popular Asian travel destinations.
Ma believes that there is still a small possibility that Chinese travelers will shift their travel destinations from Macau to Thailand or Singapore. He notes that Macau has the festive atmosphere of the CNY, as well as its unique gambling and non-gambling elements, so there is no concern about tourists being divided.
