The Macau government’s tax collection to the gaming industry fell 74% year on year, reaching $ 3.73 million in 2020.
Gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the year was $ 7.57 million, a reduction of 79%. Such a decline in earnings was attributed to the new coronavirus pandemic. The Financial Services Bureau reported that the most successful months were January, November and December.
The government receives taxes from the city’s casinos, traditional Chinese lotteries and horse racing. Operators also need to pay taxes for their commissions. The casinos’ GGR rotates at one of the highest rates, at around 39%, according to GGRAsia.
The beginning of 2021 also does not look promising. Golden Week, a celebration of the Chinese New Year, brought just 90,615 visitors to the city, a 65% decline from 261,069 in 2020 and an even greater drop from the 1.21 million tourists who arrived in the city in 2019.
Macau hopes to restart the electronic visa for the Individual Visiting System (IVS) with the continent, which would allow for easier travel. The issuance of IVS visas was resumed in September 2020, but the application process is in person, limiting the number of applicants.
The director of the Macau Government Tourism Office, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, said that the digital application will significantly increase the number of visitors.
