HONG KONG, Sept 26 — Casino stocks soared in Macau today after authorities announced plans to gradually welcome back tour groups from the Chinese mainland, the demographic that makes up the vast majority of punters.
But China’s strict zero-Covid controls have laid waste to the gaming sector, hammering the city’s economy and its main source of revenue. Gaming stocks surged the most in six months this morning, with a Bloomberg Intelligence gauge of the city’s six licensed casino operators showing overall gains of more than 10 per cent.
Ho said tour group rules would initially be eased for the neighbouring mainland province of Guangdong, followed by other major population centres including Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Fujian.But Macau will not, for now, follow Hong Kong which last week announced it was finally scrapping mandatory hotel quarantine for international travellers.