June was another gloomy month for Macao’s restaurateurs, with overall receipts falling by 2.1 percent from the previous month according to figures from the Statistics and Census Service.
While takings at Western restaurants showed an 11.5 percent increase – recovering from a steep 7 percent fall in May – receipts at Chinese restaurants plummeted by 6.4 percent.
In a year-on-year comparison, overall takings were down by more than 10 percent compared to June 2023. Receipts at Japanese and Korean restaurants, and Chinese restaurants, fell by a whopping 17.1 percent and 15.9 percent respectively.
[See more: Macao’s restaurants take another monthly hit to the bottom line]
A survey of 229 restaurants found that 42 percent were expecting their takings to increase in the wake of June’s dismal showing, but 17 percent felt that the downward trend would continue.
Macao’s restaurant sector has struggled to regain its footing in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, with local diners choosing to eat out on the Chinese mainland, where standards are high, variety is much greater, and prices far cheaper.
While tourism has revived, many mainland Chinese visitors – who make up the vast majority of tourists to Macao – have become very cost conscious amid the nation’s ongoing economic uncertainties.
