Macau casino gaming revenue showed a modest flicker of life in December, but it wasn’t enough to rescue a year of negativity. 

Figures released Friday by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) show the special administrative region of China posted gaming revenue total of MOP7.8b (US$978m) in December, 65.8% below December 2019’s total. 

On the plus side, that’s the highest monthly total and lowest rate of year-on-year decline since the pandemic took the market to the cleaners in February. December’s sum also represents a nearly 16% gain from November’s result. So, um, hurray? 

In financial terms, there is no real way to polish this turd, although the Macao Government Tourist Office released data this week showing average hotel room occupancy hit close to 70% during the Christmas period of December 23-27. Daily visitor arrivals averaged 24,503 during this period, a significant improvement over the 20,385 average over the first 22 days of December.