However, CEO Lawrence Ho strikes a positive note, stating that “The shadow of COVID-19 is finally receding”.
Business
The city added nearly 700 non-resident workers last month as it seeks to address a labour shortage, especially in the hospitality sector.
Some analysts are predicting that the territory’s casinos will equal or even exceed their pre-pandemic level of earnings as early as next year.
Currently, an average of just 4,750 people a day ride the system, but the opening of new sections this year and next are expected to boost numbers.
However, the territory’s reserves still stand a long way off from the all-time high of almost 679 billion patacas recorded in 2021, figures show.
The company says its performance last year was attributable to the pandemic, but analysts say it will make a strong comeback in 2023.
Wilfred Wong, the president and executive director of Sands China, says the gaming concessionaire is already going in the ‘direction that the government wants us to go in’.
Dr. Sara Migliorini, associate professor of global legal studies at the University of Macau, says the future of chatbots cannot simply be left to the business sector.
Tourism chiefs are broadening a popular bus and ferry ticket giveaway program for Hong Kong residents to include foreign arrivals.