Macau: Optimism Emerges Despite Strong Golden Week Bookings

Macro-economic headwinds are expected to impact the upcoming Golden Week despite relatively satisfactory room bookings.

According to UBS Group AG analysts, 17 out of 31 hotels being tracked have also sold out or become unavailable, a higher number compared to Labour Week earlier this year and last October’s Golden Week.

However, hotel prices appear to be 7 percent lower compared to the first Golden Week of the year, yet unchanged compared to the October Golden Week last year.

Kenneth Feng, executive director of MGM China Holdings, as reported by TDM Radio, recently expressed hopes that the casino operator could achieve an occupancy rate of 95 to 100 percent overall.

Hoffman Ma, executive director of Success Universe Group, an investor of the Ponte 16 casino, told Sing Tao Daily that an occupancy rate of 80 per cent to 90 per cent had tentatively been achieved for the first three days of the Golden Week.

However, room rates are down by 5 to 6 per cent from the previous October Golden Week, he added.

“We expect daily GGR to reach cMOP900-950m/day for the upcoming Oct Golden Week, in-line with Labour Week 2024 and Oct Golden Week 2023, to be supported by the concert pipelines and visitor growth from new IVS eligible cities,” UBS analysts Angus Chan, Perry Yeung, Ryan Lau, and Robin M. Farley wrote on Monday.

Citing a third-party data provider, Macquarie Equity Research analysts said in a recent note that “Golden Week room bookings are decent, but the quality of players appears to be weak so far”.

A broader economic landscape was cited as a reason, with players’ demand expected to be impacted during the 1-7 October period, about which “operators are not too optimistic”.

Findings from a business prospects survey conducted by the Statistics and Census Service for July show that retailers selling watches and jewellery saw their sales down over 39 percent, while those selling leather goods saw theirs fall by over 32 percent.