After the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) in China, Macau gaming industry has been facing a considerable decline in revenue. February turned out to be the worst month as Casinos in the gaming capital of the world saw around 88% drop in revenue. The virus continues to play havoc with the casino business in the world’s largest gaming hub as it experienced another huge drop in March.
Although Macau’s gaming market was in doldrums even before the start of 2020, the situation only worsened in 2020 after the Coronavirus outbreak. Macau’s gross gaming revenue came down close to 80% in March, as per the reports released by the Gaming Inspection & Coordination Bureau. The gross gaming revenue was $658.7 million in March, down almost 80% from a year earlier. The region has experienced revenue drop for the sixth straight month of year-over-year decline.
The unprecedented spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected economy worldwide, with billions of people under lockdown. Strict border restrictions coupled with quarantine measures have been taken to curb the virus spread and this in turn continues to hurt the casinos in Macau.
March’s revenue decline report comes after February’s record-setting 88% drop in revenue when the casinos in the gaming capital were closed for two weeks during the peak of the virus outbreak.
According to Bloomberg, analysts correctly predicted the revenue drop as they forecasted a 79.5% decline in March.
The outbreak continues to spread worldwide and almost there seems to be no end. As of April 7, the number of COVID-19 cases in the world crossed 13.58 Lac, while death toll reached 75,897. With the virus continuing to play havoc, Macau’s government slashed the forecast of the 2020 gaming revenue in half as they now only expect casinos to generate $16.2 billion in 2020, compared $36.47 billion in 2019, which was already down 4.8% from 2018. Stay tuned in for further updates!