Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) informed that the region’s casino industry generated gross gaming revenues of MOP$3.0 (US$374 million) in November to mark the industry’s 55.6% lower gross revenue in comparison with the same period last year. In November, Macau’s casino industry also experienced a 23.1% downfall in revenue levels to those seen in October.

Travel measures and restrictions:

At the beginning of November, China’s National Immigration Administration resumed electronic applications, or eVisas, for travels from the mainland to the Chinese Administrative Region of Macau under the Individual Visit Scheme. However, the measure did not support gaming in the region and provided a little positive impact on the gaming turnover which remained modest until the end of the month.

According to analysts,  the slowdown of visits to Macau was due to the current pandemic situation severely restricting travel across mainland China. As a consequence, Macau’s casinos recorded a lower number of guests and generated lower revenue levels than the previous month.

Lower revenue levels:

Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reported that Macau’s gross gaming revenue in November was 23.1% lower than in October. The region closed that month with MOP$3.90 billion (US$481.6 million) in revenue. Furthermore, November 2022 generated an 86.9% lower revenue than the pre-pandemic November 2019, when Macau recorded as high levels of gross gaming revenue as MOP22.88 billion (US$2.85 billion).

On a year-to-date basis, Macau’s GGR was MOP$38.7 billion (US$4.83 billion) from January to November 2022, which is 50.9% lower than the same period of 2021.

Comparison with Nevada:

Macau’s gaming industry’s continuous downfall in revenue is different from the financial results seen in other popular casino destinations. For example, the state of Nevada has just recorded its 20th consecutive month with a gaming win of over US$1 billion. Its revenue for the January-October period is stable at US$12.3 billion and, if the same tendency continues, Nevada’s casinos will achieve the projected 2022 gross gaming revenue of US$14.8 billion.

When compared to Macau’s $4.83 billion in revenue achieved for the first 11 months of 2022, the state of Nevada’s 2022 revenue is at around three times higher levels. At the same time, downtown Las Vegas hit a $90.5 million record in October beating the previous one set in March to mark the consistently growing trend of the industry. The growth was also reflected in the community benefits as the state of Nevada accomplished around $400 million of tax revenue.

The current situation shows that Las Vegas has much better cards now than before when Macau scored up to seven times higher revenue levels than Las Vegas. But sometimes it’s not the cards, but the player’s restrictive circumstances. Macau is now compelled to play against the odds to get back at the table.