The Macau gaming industry continues its post-Covid rally, with tax revenues to match.
The local government recorded MOP$45.8 billion (US$5.68 billion) in gaming taxes for the first nine months of 2023, for a 203 percent increase over the same period last year. The Chinese special administrative region (SAR), which endured three years of intermittent Covid shutdowns, finally reopened its borders to international travel in January. Business has been mostly strong ever since.
In September, the tax on gross gaming revenues (GGR) came to MOP$6.65 billion (US$826 million), an increase of 3.3 percent over August and the highest monthly total since the start of the pandemic in 2019.
As reported by Inside Asian Gaming, the post-Covid boom saw a hiccup in September due to the impact of Super Typhoon Saola, which caused a brief halt in public transportation. But the storm left Macau mostly unscathed, and visitation was strong during the Golden Week national holiday that began September 29.
According to Macau Business, the SAR typically sees a slowdown after Golden Week, and in October, Citigroup analysts noted a significant decline in GGR, a result of the seasonal dip and the effects of Typhoon Koinu, which hit the region on October 8.
In a note to investors last week, Citi analysts George Choi and Ryan Cheung said GGR for the first half of October would have reached MOP10 billion (US$1.2 billion) if not for the storm. But they maintained their October GGR forecast of MOP19.5 billion, for 74 percent of the 2019 level.
