According to analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein, the period between May 1st and 5th, the Golden Week holiday, will be a “crucial test” of local tourist traffic and gaming revenue.

According to the channel checks carried out by the broker, the average weekly and daily gaming revenue improved slightly between March and April as visitor numbers gradually recover.

Gaming revenues reported between April 1 and April 18 are said to have reached MOP 5 billion (US $ 631 million), with average daily rates up 12 percent from March to MOP 281 million.

The daily average was still 64 percent below the April 2019 average.

Daily visitor arrivals also hit a 15-month high of 34,252 on April 16, with the monthly average for daily visitor arrivals and departures between 36,500 and 56,600 per day. Bernstein expects that the number of visitors will slowly increase in the next few months.

‘Without a material change in Macau COVID testing requirements, IVS or group visas issuance, Hong Kong opening, GGR and visits will remain below normal levels and GGR recovery will face headwinds.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley analysts have said the airlines have planned to increase flight capacity on routes to Macau from 35 percent in 2019 to 52 percent for working days this year, with Beijing and Shanghai routes reaching 64 percent should percent or 61 percent of prepandemic.

According to a survey published last week by the country’s online tour guide Trip.com on April 8, the number of bookings for Macau travel products increased 20 percent over the upcoming May 1 holiday compared to 2019 while hotel bookings were made more than doubled.

Morgan Stanley also estimates that May will see gaming revenue grow nearly 49 percent from the previous month to around 12.9 billion MOP.

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