{"id":20515,"date":"2021-07-21T15:36:33","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T15:36:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=20515"},"modified":"2026-04-23T17:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T20:24:24","slug":"hong-kong-macau-travel-bubble-expected-in-september","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/hong-kong-macau-travel-bubble-expected-in-september","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong-Macau travel bubble expected in September"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">JP Morgan predicts that the long-awaited travel bubble between Hong Kong and Macau could be launched by September on a &#8220;limited scale.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Macau.- The long-awaited <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/hk-macau-travel-bubble-delayed-again-due-to-new-covid-19-case\">travel bubble between Macau and Hong Kong<\/a> could be launched in September, JP Morgan predicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The plan was delayed this month due to Hon Kong reporting a new case of Covid-19 since June 7. Macau has set a requirement of 28 days with no new cases to launch a\u00a0travel bubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Macau authorities are reported to have invited experts from China\u2019s National Health Commission to<strong>\u00a0inspect the situation in Macau\u00a0<\/strong>and provide opinions on a possible relaxation of travel restrictions with Hong Kong. Macau is also looking to establish travel bubbles with other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some\u00a0<strong>41.4 per cent of Hong Kong\u2019s population\u00a0<\/strong>had received one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. Macau has seen a similar rate, while 28 per cent of the population has received both doses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Macau has relaxed restrictions with Guangdong amid a fall in Covid-19 cases, a month and a half after imposing a 14-day quarantine on visitors from districts in\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-tightens-controls-amid-rise-in-covid-19-cases-in-guangdong\">Guangdong province<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For now, only one city in mainland China remains on Macau\u2019s quarantine list: Ruili, in southwest China\u2019s Yunnan province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>JP Morgan\u00a0<\/strong>also analysed the current economic status in Macau after\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-ggr-falls-37-in-june\">the city registered its lowest GGR<\/a>\u00a0since November 2020 in June, with a drop of 37 per cent month-on-month. It expects Macau to see a 30 per cent monthly increase in GGR in July fueled by the summer holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Analysts predict<strong> that in August Macau GGR could see its best figures<\/strong>\u00a0since the pandemic began. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Visitor arrivals have started to rebound in July<\/strong>, with an occupancy rate of 52.1 per cent during the first fifteen days of the month, up 8.4 per cent month-on-month with a daily basis of 30,000 visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-visitor-arrivals-up-20-2-in-h1\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC)<\/a>&nbsp;has reported that Macau&nbsp;<strong>welcomed 3.93m tourists in the first half of 2021<\/strong>, up 20.2 per cent year-on-year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Macau gaming licences may be extended<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gaming advisor\u00a0<strong>Antonio Lobo Viela<\/strong>\u00a0believes\u00a0<strong>Macau will extend its six current gaming concessions<\/strong>\u00a0beyond 2022. In an article for Gaming Law magazine, Lobo Viela said\u00a0<strong>authorities were running out of time\u00a0<\/strong>to complete a public tender for June 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the&nbsp;<strong>Macau Government \u201ccannot control the timing of the approval of amendments&nbsp;<\/strong>to Macau Gaming Law, neither can it influence the timetable of discussions held in the newly elected Legislative Assembly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He added: \u201cNot having the legal and administrative basis for a tender established in advance constitutes<strong>&nbsp;a serious error<\/strong>&nbsp;when the futures of companies operating in Macau\u2019s dominant industry and employing thousands of people are at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the current city\u2019s gaming laws,<strong>\u00a0licences can be extended for up to five years<\/strong>\u00a0from the original 20-year term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>JP Morgan predicts that the long-awaited travel bubble between Hong Kong and Macau could be launched by September on a &#8220;limited scale.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"JP Morgan predicts a limited Macau-Hong Kong travel bubble by September, despite recent delays, with July and August GGR expected to rebound significantly after a June low. Concurrently, gaming advisor Antonio Lobo Viela anticipates an extension of Macau's six gaming concessions beyond 2022 due to legislative and administrative timing constraints for a public tender.","focusai_entities":"JP Morgan, Antonio Lobo Viela, China\u2019s National Health Commission, Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), Legislative Assembly","focusai_location":"Hong Kong, Macau, China, Guangdong, Ruili, Yunnan","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.9), compliance_legal (0.8), operator_casino (1.0), affiliate_publisher (0.7), marketing_crm (0.7), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Sustained GGR Recovery?","query":"Given the historical volatility, what specific metrics or policy shifts would signal a sustained GGR recovery beyond the summer holiday surge, particularly concerning the broader relaxation of travel restrictions with mainland China?"},{"label":"Concession Tender Hurdles?","query":"What are the specific legislative and administrative hurdles that could prevent the Macau government from initiating a public tender for gaming concessions by June 2022, and what are the potential implications of a short-term extension versus a full re-tender process for incumbent operators?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,23876],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-social-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20515"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20539,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20515\/revisions\/20539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}