Macau hotel guests up 550.3% in April

The Macau Statistics and Census Bureau has reported that the average occupancy rate at Macau hotels was up 550.3 per cent when compared to last year.

Macau.- The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) has reported that 694,000 tourists checked into Macau hotels & guesthouses in April.

The number was up 550.3 per cent year-on-year for hotes, while the guestrooms rate increased 59 per cent.

The DSEC also reported that Macau registered 794,819 visitor arrivals in April, up 5.3 per cent from March and 7,000 per cent year-on-year.

The majority of the city’s visitors came from mainland China, which remains the only country to have a largely quarantine-free travel bubble with Macau.

However, the city has resumed 14-day quarantine for travellers from one district in Guangdong province due to a rise in Covid-19 cases.

During the first four months of the year, the average occupancy rate of guest rooms was 48.4 per cent, while the number of guests of hotels and guesthouses grew to 2,148,000.

Macau recorded a total of 2.53 million visitor arrivals for the first three months of the year.

The Census and Statistics Service has reported that the total spending of visitors (excluding gaming expenses) increased by 23.5 per cent year-on-year to MOP6.18bn in the first quarter of 2021.

Authorities also revealed that the total spending of overnight visitors rose by 48.0 per cent year-on-year to MOP5.59bn, while that of same-day visitors dropped by 52.1 per cent to MOP589m.

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) director, said Macau expects a daily visitor tally of over 30,000 during the summer.

Macau GGR could reach US$16.3bn in 2021, analysts say

Morgan Stanley has cut its forecast for Macau gross gaming revenue (GGR) this year by 19 per cent to US$16.3bn.

Previously, analysts had said Macau GGR could reach MOP189bn (US$23.6bn), about 65 per cent of GGR reported in 2019. However, the banking group now thinks it will reach just MOP130.19bn (US$16.3bn).

That would be just 45 per cent of 2019 levels, but it would an improvement of 115.4 per cent when compared to 2020.

Morgan Stanley said it had revised its previous forecast due to the new rise in Covid-19 cases in Asia and the delay in easing travel restrictions between Hong Kong and Macau.

As for corporate EBITDA, analysts estimate US$2.89bn, down 37 per cent from its previous prediction of nearly US$4.6bn.

Morgan Stanley said: “Investors are waiting for Macau revenue/profit to normalise, which needs the reinstatement of the mainland’s electronic application system for Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) exit visas, the resumption of group visas, and Mainland-Hong Kong-Macau reopening.”