Macau is back on track for growth. February saw a 4.4% increase in gross gaming revenue (GGR) year over year, increasing to MOP25.37 billion ($13.4 billion USD), reports GGRAsia.
The increase could be in part due to the Chinese New Year. That celebration is big for Macau, and brings in a large increase of tourists. “The timing of Chinese New Year (CNY) should have, in theory, benefited this year,” said Grant Govertsent, an analyst for Union Gaming Securities Asia Ltd. “Based on our on-the-ground observations, and given robust foot traffic trends, it appears that mass market came through for operators and growth of this segment likely remains in the low double digits.”
The holiday really helped revenue overall. For the first time ever, Macau saw over one million arrivals solely during the celebration period. That represents a 26.6% increase compared to the previous year.
This represents a rebound for Macau, who in January, snapped their streak of 29 straight months of GGR growth with a 5% decline from 2018. Even with the 4.4% increase in February, Macau is still 0.5% behind the GGR they were at year over year for the two months combined.