Macau: visitors down 23% in February

Macau received 427,122 visitors in February, the month of the Chinese New Year holiday, a drop of 23.3 per cent compared with January.

Macau.- Travel restrictions and Covid-19 countermeasures impacted on visitor numbers to Macau in February.

The number of visitors in February reached 427,122, a drop of 23.3 per cent compared with January.

However, the figure represented a 173.1 per cent improvement on February 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic began and Macau closed its 41 casinos for 15 days.

During the first days of the Chinese New Year Golden Week holiday, Macau received 47,770 visitors, mostly from mainland China. 

In February, visitors from mainland China increased by 426 per cent year-on-year to 380,649. Some 40,037 visitors came from Hong Kong.

The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) also reported that overnight visitation grew by more than 225 per cent year-on-year to 245,309 while same day visitors increased by 124.2 per cent to 181,813.

Macau allows casinos to resume standing table gaming

Macau’s casino regulator has announced that casinos may now allow players to stand at gaming tables provided they are at least 1 metre (3.3 feet) apart.

The change comes as the regulator perceives a lower risk of Covid-19 infection. In February 2020, table gambling while standing was prohibited as one of several social distancing measures.

The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau noted that standing betting is “a popular activity among Asian players who often like to take part in the action at a table already full of seated players.”