According to Bernstein Research, a travel bubble between Hong Kong and Macau could be launched later in the summer as long as Covid-19 cases continue to decline in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Macau.- The long-awaited\u00a0travel bubble between Hong Kong and Macau\u00a0<\/strong>could be close to becoming a reality if Covid-19 cases remain under control in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last September, Macau’s chief executive, Ho Iat Seng, said the\u00a0travel bubble<\/a>\u00a0between Macau and Hong Kong\u00a0would be possible once Hong Kong reported zero Covid-19 cases<\/strong>. As\u00a0Hong Kong hasn’t reported a local case since June 8<\/strong>, that criterion appears to have been reached<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Bernstein Research, \u201ca travel bubble encompassing China\/Hong Kong and Macau would be a key driver for growth<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n In April, there was a breakthrough when\u00a0Sophia Chan Siu-chee<\/strong>, Hong Kong\u2019s secretary for food and health, announced that\u00a0Hong Kong<\/a>\u00a0would allow non-residents<\/strong>\u00a0from Guangdong province and Macau to\u00a0enter Hong Kong without undergoing quarantine<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hong Kong is one of the key outbound markets for Macau’s gaming industry<\/strong>\u00a0as it provides 10 to 15 per cent of Macau’s annual casino gross gaming revenue (GGR).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bernstein<\/a>\u00a0has recently predicted\u00a0Macau’s GGR for June will be down<\/strong>\u00a030 per cent month-on-month to 72 per cent of 2019 levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Macau GGR<\/a>\u00a0for the second week of June was down by 24.3 per cent when compared to May. GGR was MOP219m (US$27.3m). That compares to\u00a0MOP1.35bn (US$169m) in the first week of June.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The decline in GGR is attributed to a rise in Covid-19 cases in the\u00a0province of Guangdong<\/a>, which has led Macau to tighten controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n