Hong Kong-China travel bubble delayed due to Omicron cases

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Hong Kong Chief Executive, said the long-awaited travel bubble with mainland China will have to wait due to the outbreak of Omicron cases.

Hong Kong.- The Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, said that an outbreak of Omicron variant Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong may hinder the city’s chances of reaching a quarantine-free travel arrangement with mainland China.

Authorities in China had previously announced the country was going to open its borders for travellers from Hong Kong from December 19 while Elsie Ao Ieong U, Macau’s secretary for social affairs and culture, had said the travel bubble was going to apply only for those who had been fully vaccinated.

The reopening of the border between Hong Kong and Macau was highly expected as Hong Kong has historically accounted for 15 per cent to 20 per cent of Macau’s total gaming revenue.

Mainland China continues to be the only country to have a largely quarantine-free travel bubble with Macau

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor pointed out that as of Monday, Hong Kong had recorded 102 cases related to the Omicron-variant. 

Among them, 97 cases were classified as “imported” and the other five cases were classified as “epidemiologically related” to imported cases.

Macau’s GGR for January could be down 9%

Analysts at Bernstein Research predicted Macau’s GGR for the current month could be down 71 per cent from its pre-pandemic levels and 9 per cent lower than December due to travel restrictions.

The figure was up 1.8 per cent month-on-month in December, from MOP6.75bn (US$844m) to MOP$7.96bn (US$991.4m). It became the sixth-best of the year while October saw the lowest monthly GGR of 2021.