Coronavirus Outbreak Spurs Decline In Macau Tourism, Hurts CasinosMacau's Lunar New Year Tourism Numbers Down 66 Percent |
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The Lunar New Year is one of the biggest holidays in Asia and supposed to be a boon to Macau’s gambling industry.
The outbreak of the deadly coronavirus in China, however, has dampened what is usually one of the most profitable times of the year to be a gambling operator in Macau.
The number of mainland Chinese visitors fell 80 percent on Sunday, the third day of the Chinese New Year celebration. According to the tourism office of the former Portuguese colony, tourism is down 66 percent from the 2018 holiday.
The drop in tourism comes right on the heels of one of the worst years in recent history for Macau casinos. In 2019, casinos generated $36.47 billion in revenue, which was down 3.4 percent from 2018. It was the worst year-over-year decline since 2015.
Macau’s economy is centered around the tourism and gambling industry. According to Bloomberg, 80 percent of the local government revenue comes from taxing casino profits. To make matters worse, Macau’s leader Ho Iat Seng, told local media Thursday that he couldn’t rule out temporarily closing all of the city’s casinos until the disease is under control.
It wouldn’t be an unprecedented move for businesses to shut down. McDonalds and Starbucks were among the first companies to temporarily close down while the government attempts to squash the spread of the virus.
There have been 80 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus in mainland China. There are more than 2,700 cases total in China and six in Macau.
Stock prices of many casinos have plunged since the news. Wynn Resorts dropped 11 percent, Wynn Macau Ltd. fell 13 percent and Sands China Ltd. saw an 8 percent decline.
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