Macau casinos began to see light at the end of the tunnel last week when the Chinese government eliminated border restrictions for travel between Macau, Hong Kong and Guangdong, two of the most important locations of players in the Macau casinos. Previously visitors were required to quarantine for 14 days when arriving in Macau.
As of December 19, visitors need only provide a “health card” that proves their vaccination and Covid status. When the program was announced more than 100,000 people signed up for the card in the first three days. Macau officials were considering dropping the quarantine rules, but are waiting to see what the other regions to in order to be “highly consistent with each other.”
According to Davis Fong, a professor with the University of Macau, open borders with Hong Kong could be a significant step since prior to the pandemic, Hong Kong represented 20 percent of Macau casino business.
“Hong Kong clients have always been an important client source,” he said. “Before then handover, 7 million people came to Macau from Hong Kong each year but with our marketing more focused on mainland China that has dropped to 5 million. Now we have a chance to use our old marketing, so when the border with Hong Kong opens, we move forward step by step, absorbing more Hong Kong clients.”
