August annoyance for Macau casinos
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The 39 casinos in Macau's gross gaming revenues decreased by 94.5% year-on-year to stand at just over $166.61 million last month.
August was the fifth consecutive month in which Macau casinos' gross gaming revenues have declined by over 90%. The eight-month figure for casinos in the former Portuguese enclave now stands some 81.6% lower at $4.55 billion.
Macau recorded its first coronavirus case on January 22. The city temporarily closed all its gambling-friendly establishments.
Macau casinos were re-opened from February 20. However, subsequent visitation was severely impacted due to the implementation of a 14-day quarantine rule for people travelling between Macau and China or Hong Kong. Macao was cut off from one of its main sources for gamblers in March after Beijing suspended its Individual Visit Scheme.
The IVS scheme is set to be reinstated in Macau and Guangdong Province later today. It is said to have been responsible for 46.8% of the almost 28 million mainland Chinese visitors that entered Macao last year.
