Retendering21-22

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...

 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...

 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...