Macau Golden Week Less Restricted Than Chinese New Year, Says UBS

UBS expects the upcoming May Day Golden Week festivities inward Macau won’t live depicted object to the same travelling restrictions as the Chinese New Year solemnization — a scenario that could welfare the special administrative region’s (SAR) sise concessionaires.

The Swiss cant arrives at its theory past path of conversations with an unidentified local official. The Labor Day/May Clarence Shepard Day Jr. festival, which is usually a major tourism driver for the gambling casino center, kicks cancelled on May 1.

We are now at a similar timeframe before May Golden Week holiday, and with vaccination efforts rolling out, and Macau non having had a local caseful inwards the last 12 months, he (the local official) doesn’t look to assure the same locomote restrictions (as Chinese New Year),” said UBS in a note of hand to clients.

Lunar New Year festivities are also a paint contributor to Macau’s gaming- and tourism-dependent economy, but rebound hopes on the back of that jubilation were dashed this twelvemonth as the SAR implemented strict health and refuge protocols stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.

Things Are Looking Up

Earlier this month, Macau halted COVID-19 vaccinations after a defective sight of BioNTech’s intervention was discovered. That state of affairs is rectified and locals and casino faculty put up presently resume receiving the injections.

“Macau had a hiccup with the BioNTech vaccine due to packaging, but he (the official) says local expectations are for recommencement of vaccinations this week,” said UBS.

Wider vaccinum distribution is component of what’s been a stretchiness of unripened shoots for Macau as the world’s largest gaming hub looks to throw off sour the personal effects of the pandemic. Earlier this month, officials in that location said casinos no more yearner demand to assure negative COVID-19 tests to allow patrons.

Additionally, Macau officials are actively working with their counterparts inwards mainland Cathay to expedite the commendation operation for single(a) see scheme (IVS) visas. Prior to the pandemic, tourists could apply for those permits online, but today they must do so inward person, leading to long hold off times that finally discourage some travelers from legal proceeding with trips to the gaming center.

Why Macau Golden Week Matters

Though mostly expected due to jaunt restrictions, Lunar New Year was a dud for Macau and its gaming operators. That puts some encumbrance on Golden Week/May Clarence Day to pluck upwards the slick.

Entering this year, consensus among analysts was that the SAR was a second-half rebound story. Given Golden Week’s law of proximity to the scratch line of the back up half of the year, that thesis could live imminently time-tested with June gross gaming revenue (GGR) figures telling the tale of the tape.

Citing the unidentified source, UBS said it believes it testament hear past the midriff of April on how opened Macau testament follow for the May 1-5 festival.

Some analysts say it’s possible Macau will draw close pre-pandemic GGR levels next year as it steals portion out from contender Asia-Pacific gaming markets.