Mainland Chinese punters to return to Macau for entertainment: CLSA survey

The investment group surveyed 800 Chinese nationals with prior gaming experience. 78 per cent of the respondents said that they planned to visit the city before March 2025, with 84 per cent willing to “stay multiple nights”.

70 per cent of the respondents said that they would pay at least two visits, compared to 57 per cent last year. 

Additionally, 96 per cent said that they would go for two nights or more.

On the non-gaming front, 65 per cent of the surveyed viewed Macau as a “more appealing shopping destination post-Covid”.

The China Reality Research study also suggested that 45 per cent of the respondents could benefit from the recent policy changes in the Individual Visit Scheme.

“Since March 2024, the government has also expanded the IVS coverage to ten more cities (including Qingdao, Xi’an, Taiyuan etc.) with roughly 45m residents,” analysts Jeffrey Kiang, Lance Noble, and Leo Pan wrote in a report.

“These easing measures should accelerate the normalisation process of visitations as well as gross gaming revenue.”

Spending momentum sustains

95 per cent of respondents expressed a willingness to keep their spending, including gaming, unchanged, similar to last year’s results.

“In particular, apart from gaming, they intend to increase spending on entertainment, food & beverage, and accommodation,” they said. “In our view, this bodes well for concessionaires.”

Despite 56 per cent of visitors looking to visit at least two resorts during their upcoming trips to Macau, Sands China remains the most popular choice.

Venetian Macao, in particular, appeared to be the most appealing in the survey, with the popularity of MGM China and Wynn Macau growing year on year.

Almost all of the respondents found Macau to be a safe destination, the study also concluded.

When it came to individual spending on gaming, the survey revealed that 33 per cent intended to spend less than RMB5,000 (MOP5,574/ US$704), while 27 per cent planned to spend between RMB5,000 and RMB25,000.

Additionally, 16 per cent of them anticipated spending between RMB25,001 and RMB50,000.