The gaming industry in Macau is facing troubles because of the pandemic, suffering lower GGRs and smaller inflow of clients. Earlier this August, the city of Zhuhai in Guangdong province started issuing tourist visas again which could help the city get back on its feet. However, despite these efforts, the August GGR outlook remains bleak for the company.

Recovery will take time

Analysts suggest that the recovery view in the city is still very dim. They are eyeing yet another dismal month in August where gross gaming revenue (GGR) figures will be bad. Macau hasn’t had any impact on visa-issuing from Zhuhai yet. As a result of this, the wait is continuously going on and the gaming sector is still under pressure.

According to Bernstein, the GGR will fall 94% this month, adding yet another month to what is a multi-month losing streak for the city of over 90% GGR loss. In July, the GGR went down by 94.5% in the region and was only a few points better than the 95% downfall predicted by the analysts.

IVS is the only relief

Zhuhai has started issuing the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) visas again. It is the only mainland Chinese city connected to Macau by land because of which IVS plays an important role in bringing individual travelers to the world’s largest gaming hub. After Zhuhai started reissuing IVS on August 12, the province of Guangdong followed suit. The province will be permitting IVS starting tomorrow. Mainland China will be opening up these visas on September 23.

According to reports, authorities are taking at least a week to approve the new travel permits. Bernstein said,

“The wait on IVS visa applications is approximately seven to 10 days, as automated visa issuance system is not yet active, and applicants have to go through the application process in person (for now).”

Though things appear gloomy at the moment, it is likely that the fortunes of the gaming hub will change in the coming months with more visitors arriving from mainland China.