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Chinese New Year Special
occasion to visit casinos and enjoy a good time with friends and families. So this is a good revenue-generating period for the casino operators.” Mr Lam says many Chinese see
gambling for pleasure as a celebratory social activity. “Traditionally, it is alright for adults or youth alike to gamble during Chinese New Year celebrations. A small amount spent on gambling is seen as causing no harm during this period. So parents sometimes let their kids use their red- packet money for simple gambling fun.”
With a bang Superstition and other cultural characteristics go with gambling at New Year. It is no coincidence that it is the only period when Macau’s civil servants are allowed to gamble at the casinos. “If one wins, they may feel that they will be lucky for the rest of the new year. It’s like lighting a recracker for celebration,” Mr Lam says. Union Gaming Research Macau
analyst Grant Govertsen expects the Chinese New Year Golden Week to give gross gaming revenue growth a
boost. “We continue to believe the VIP segment should remain strong through at least the early part of 2012, as our channel checks suggest VIP demand is growing, not shrinking, with junkets asking for additional tables at many properties,” he says. Mr Govertsen expects gross
gaming revenue in January to be 36 to 41 percent higher than last February, when Chinese New Year occurred last year. “This would, of course, represent an all-time monthly gross gaming revenue record for Macau,” he says. Travel agencies and tour operators
have mixed feelings about the holidays. Those that bring tourists in from the mainland see a gush of revenue. Many people in the mainland spend the rst days of the Golden Week visiting their families there and the rest of the time travelling for pleasure. “Chinese New Year is a big season
for Macau and Hong Kong. Hotels are fully booked and rates are higher,” says Isabel Marie Miguel, executive travel coordinator of Amigo Travel (Macau) Ltd. Ms Miguel says the number of package tours from the mainland is
50 percent higher during the holidays than at other times, and the number of coaches hired 10 percent higher. In contrast, it is a low season for
inbound tourists from other countries. “We work mainly with tours from Japan and the Southeast Asia and there is a decrease in this season, because room rates are higher and hotels are fully booked,” says Mr Cheng of EGL Tours. During the corresponding Golden
Week last year Macau took in 805,000 tourists, 8.4 percent more than the year before, of whom 477,000 were from the mainland, up by 14 percent. Outbound tourism increases by
about one-third during the New Year holidays, says Anthony U of Wing On Travel (Holdings) Ltd. Most Macau people go to Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan or the mainland. Even so, Patrick S am of tourism
company Huan Yu Group Holding Co. Ltd. believes summer is the best season for travel agencies that send locals abroad. “Many airlines’ seats are sold out during Chinese New Year due to the increase of tours,” he says.
JANUARY 2012
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