A new study by Seaport Research Partners suggests that Non-gaming activity will contribute to around 15 percent of concessionaires’ collective revenue this year. The findings were cited in multiple media reports.
An analyst for the US-headquartered firm, Vitaly Umansky, said he expected 2024’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) to reach US$28.7 billion – a 26.1 percent year-on-year increase – and non-gaming revenue to hit US$4.9 billion, up 17.7 percent.
Growth in non-gaming revenue may indicate the government’s economic diversification scheme is working, the aim being to wean the SAR off its dependence on gambling. The city’s six gaming concessionaires are required to collectively invest more than 108.7 billion patacas (US$13.5 billion) in non-gambling infrastructure and projects over the next decade, under the terms of their current licences.
[See more: Gaming tax made up 85 percent of Macao’s revenue between January and May]
Seaport Research forecasts that the casino operators’ non-gaming revenue will increase to US$5.3 billion in 2025 and that GGR will rise to US$31.8 billion, meaning non-gaming revenue would make up closer to 14 percent of the total.
Umansky added that the fourth quarter of the year should see GGR recovery to 83.3 percent of 2019’s pre-pandemic levels, following more modest results in quarters two and three. He described Macao’s longer term GGR growth prospects as stable. “We do not see a slowdown and change in propensity to gamble by the core Macao customer base and Macao remains the funnel for servicing gaming demand in Greater China,” he said.
The SAR government has forecast a more conservative 216 billion patacas – or an 18 percent increase over 2023’s figure – for this year’s GGR.
