Melco CEO pessimistic about Chinese border reopening soon

Lawrence Ho, Melco Resorts’ CEO, has said he doesn’t expect China to open its borders this year.

Macau.- Sharing the group’s latest financial report, Melco Resorts CEO, Lawrence Ho, said China is unlikely to reopen its borders soon. He said visits to Macau will remain low as long as the zero-coronavirus policy remains.

Ho stated: “Even recently we’ve seen how certain provinces view Macau as being so close to Hong Kong and therefore the Covid-19 outbreak in Hong Kong somehow would affect Macau, so honestly I don’t have a lot of hope that group tours or eVisas are going to be normalized before the Hong Kong-China corridor, meaning the Hong Kong-Macau corridor will be open.”

Last November, the MGTO said the city could receive up to 10 million visitors in 2022 if Macau finally resumes the e-visa programme with China and reopens borders with Hong Kong. Group tourist visas have been suspended since 2020, while the individual visa process now still allows online applications.

Ho noted that Melco’s gaming volume did increase year-on-year during the Chinese New Year holiday and carried over into the weeks after the holiday.