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Business Is Macao at risk of losing the Hong Kong tourism market?

ma25   The Lunar New Year has traditionally been a boom period for Macao’s tourism sector and this year was no different, with the city welcoming some 1.3 million visitors between 28 January and 4 February. While this figure represents a slight drop of 3.5 percent year-on-year, the daily average of more than 100,000 travellers entering Macao before, during and after the festivities was   deemed   “considerable” by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO).  [ See more:  Hong Kong tourists are shunning Macao for Shenzhen, expert warns ] Concerns, however, have been raised within the local tourism industry over the year-on-year drop of 8.9 percent in Hong Kong arrivals during the 8-day “ golden week ” period. Early last month, Andy Wu, the president of the Travel Industry Council of Macau,  urged  the government to take note of the “relatively big” fall in visitors from the neighbouring SAR, which he said stemmed from Hong Kongers choosing to visit Shen...

tax relief granted as a result of gambling by customers from overseas

 mar25 The tally of approved tax relief granted by the Macau government to the city’s casino operators as a result of gambling by customers from overseas is “internal” information that is “not to be disclosed to the public”. That is according to the Macau casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), in an emailed statement in response to a GGRAsia enquiry on the topic. GGRAsia’s query had been filed to the Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance, the Macau official charged with overseeing the local industry, and to the regulator, with the regulator being the body directed to reply. GGRAsia asked for disclosure of the total amount of tax relief granted in, respectively, 2024 and 2023, to the city’s six casino concessionaires, for their efforts in earning gaming revenue from overseas players. The local government has a policy aim of increasing the volume of overseas players, and their contribution to annual casino gross gaming revenue (GGR). Amid th...

Governo cada vez mais dependente do Jogo

 mar25 As receitas provenientes dos impostos do jogo representaram quase 80 por cento do orçamento do Governo de Macau em 2024, uma percentagem maior do que a registada no ano anterior, segundo dados divulgados pela  Direcção dos Serviços de Finanças . Em 2023, os impostos dos jogos representaram aproximadamente 77 por cento do total das receitas, com um total de 65.2 mil milhões de patacas. Nesse mesmo ano, no Plano de Desenvolvimento da Diversificação Adequada da Economia da Região Administrativa Especial de Macau (2024 – 2028), as autoridades apontavam para a ambição de conseguir que o sector do jogo representasse apenas 40 por cento do Produto Interno Bruto (PIB). No entanto, em 2024, o volume gerado pelos impostos do jogo registou um aumento notável de 35 por cento, para 88.1 mil milhões de patacas; ou seja, uma fatia de 80 por cento no bolo total de 110 mil milhões de patacas em receitas correntes totais da Administração, valor que comporta um aumento de 15,4 por cento a...

Divergence between Macau visitor recovery and city’s casino GGR performance

 mar25 Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitors to Macau dropped 4.4% year-on-year in February. According to DSEC, the drop is mainly due to a relatively high comparison base resulting from the Spring Festival Golden Week falling entirely in February last year, while this year, the 8-day holiday was shared between January and February. February accounted for some 3,147,184 visitors, almost half a million less than January this year (3,646,561), i.e., -13.69% month-to-month. According to the same official statistics release, overnight visitors (1,259,358) dropped by 11.7% year-on-year, while same-day visitors (1,887,826) rose by 1.1%. The average length of stay of visitors held steady year-on-year at 1.1 days, the same happening for the duration of stay for overnight visitors (2.2 days) and same-day visitors (0.3 days). Despite the results of February alone, in the first two months of this year, 6,793,745 visitor arrivals were recorded, a 10....

VER RECUPERAÇÂO DO JOGO em Covid

 MAR25 Fitch Ratings Inc forecasts Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth to slow to 6.9 percent this year  from 8.8 percent  in 2024, as the city’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) “is likely to rise more gradually to roughly 81 percent of its 2019 level, after a rebound in 2024”. The commentary was part of a Tuesday report in which the institution affirmed Macau’s long-term issuer default rating at “AA”, with a “stable” outlook. In its latest report on Macau, a special administrative region of China, Fitch analysts George Xu, Jeremy Zook and Jan Friederich wrote: “We expect GDP growth to be supported by continued, but slower, gaming tourism recovery, along with favourable visa policies for mainland visitors, non-gaming investments and enhanced tourism infrastructure.” They added: “However, a sharp slowdown in the Chinese economy, such as from substantial U.S. tariff hikes, and sharp yuan depreciation pose downside risks to Macau’s prospects.” https://www.ggrasia.com/fitc...

Turismo não vai recuperar? (ver " Macau will never again reach the peak it previously achieved"

 MAR25 Fitch Ratings Inc forecasts Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth to slow to 6.9 percent this year  from 8.8 percent  in 2024, as the city’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) “is likely to rise more gradually to roughly 81 percent of its 2019 level, after a rebound in 2024”. The commentary was part of a Tuesday report in which the institution affirmed Macau’s long-term issuer default rating at “AA”, with a “stable” outlook. In its latest report on Macau, a special administrative region of China, Fitch analysts George Xu, Jeremy Zook and Jan Friederich wrote: “We expect GDP growth to be supported by continued, but slower, gaming tourism recovery, along with favourable visa policies for mainland visitors, non-gaming investments and enhanced tourism infrastructure.” They added: “However, a sharp slowdown in the Chinese economy, such as from substantial U.S. tariff hikes, and sharp yuan depreciation pose downside risks to Macau’s prospects.” https://www.ggrasia.com/fitc...