Gaming in many casino markets around the world has quickly recovered in the immediate aftermath of COVID-19’s darkest days. But in Macau, such recovery has been limited because of the Chinese Special Administrative Region (SAR) and China’s zero-COVID approach. Those protocols result in strict reimplementation of coronavirus rules in the event of even a few new cases.<\/p>\n
Gross gaming revenue (GGR) through 10 months in 2021 totals just shy of $9 billion. While that’s 57 percent better than 2020, it’s a far cry from the more than $33.5 billion the six casino giants won through 10 months in 2019.<\/p>\n
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Macau eliminating the quarantine mandate on mainland China should quickly return visitors. The mainland is Macau’s primary feeding ground. In 2019, the mainland accounted for 71 percent of the 39.4 million people who visited the gaming enclave.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
People arriving at Macau’s border gates are free to enter so long as they have a negative COVID-19 test that was conducted within the past 48 hours. That regulation is actually stricter than before the quarantines were lifted. Prior to today, people could enter Macau with a negative nucleic test completed within the past seven days, but were subject to quarantines.<\/p>\n
Anyone who has visited a foreign country within the past 21 days prior to arriving at a Macau security checkpoint will be denied entry.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong Banned<\/b><\/h2>\n While Macau ending its quarantine mandates on mainland China is a major positive development for the casinos, they desperately seek the same easing for nearby Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
Macau is continuing to limit entry for people coming from Hong Kong. Those who are granted entry must undergo 14 days of medical observation.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong, the other SAR in China, was responsible for 18.7 percent of visitors to Macau in 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Macau’s borders are finally open without quarantine for people arriving from anywhere in mainland China. After nearly two years of such mandatory health observations – which typically required incoming travelers to quarantine for at least two weeks in either a government-approved medical observation hotel or an isolation camp – Macau’s borders are fully open to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":192951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,81881],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Macau Quarantine-Free for All of Mainland China, But Hong Kong on Hold<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n