Macau casino revenue up 366% in May

Tourists crowd in front of the St. Paul's Monument in Macau on April 30.

Reuters reported on June 1 that casino revenue in Macau (China), the world's largest gambling center, increased by 366% in May compared to the same period last year to 15.6 billion patacas (45,470 billion VND).

This is the highest monthly revenue since January 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic was still raging in China.

The May revenue surge was partly due to a five-day holiday when hundreds of thousands of people flocked to this Chinese special administrative region, the only place in the country where people can legally gamble at casinos.

China lifted Covid-19 restrictions in January, allowing people to travel to Macau for the first time in more than three years.

About 500,000 people came to Macau during the five-day May Day holiday in early May, crowding the streets around historic landmarks like Senado Square, St Paul's Basilica and glitzy casinos.

Authorities want to diversify revenue sources in Macau, where 80% of revenue comes from casinos, so they have imposed strict new regulations on six casino operators.

In early 2022, the authorities announced that they would still only license up to six casino operators in Macau. Each operator would also have to raise its capital to 5 billion patacas, up from 200 million patacas previously. In addition, the operator would have to have a Macau director holding 15% of the capital, instead of 10% as before, among other regulations.

With customer numbers soaring, many casinos are dealing with labor shortages, a concern for six operators including Sands China, Wynn Macau, MGM China, SJM Holdings, Galaxy Entertainment and Melco Resorts.

Last week, Sands China officially opened its Londoner casino resort, which includes a 6,000-seat grandstand and tourist attractions such as a replica of Britain's Big Ben.

It was also the first casino to open after the Covid-19 pandemic and was attended by former England football captain David Beckham, helping to attract many fans.

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