Wynn Macau Ltd (永利澳門) yesterday fell to the lowest in more than two weeks, leading declines in casino shares after a Macau official said the territory wants to study restrictions on mainland Chinese tourists to ease overcrowding.
The Macanese government is to approach China’s central government in Beijing to analyze Macau’s capacity for visitors and to consider how “too many tourists impact residents’ quality of life,” local broadcaster Teledifusao de Macau reported Macanese Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng (譚俊榮) as saying on a radio talk-show.
Wynn Macau dropped 3.7 percent to HK$21.95 at the close of trading in Hong Kong. Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd (銀河娛樂集團) and Sands China Ltd (金沙中國) fell 2.7 percent, SJM Holdings Ltd declined 2.3 percent and MGM China Holdings (美高梅中國控股) lost 2 percent. The benchmark Hang Seng index fell 0.4 percent.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in December last year urged Macau to diversify away from its reliance on casinos and turn the city into a world tourism and leisure center. Macau’s casino revenue slumped an eighth straight month last month, its longest losing streak on record, as Xi’s two-year-long crackdown on Chinese official corruption and stricter travel rules have deterred high rollers from entering the territory.
There will be talks between Macau and mainland authorities from the capital and provinces, the Macau Daily Times reported yesterday.
China introduced the so-called Individual Visit Scheme in 2003 to allow mainland residents to visit Macau and Hong Kong by obtaining entry permits without the need to travel with tour groups. The program was first implemented in four cities in the south and extended to 49 cities throughout China.
The number of mainland Chinese visitors to Macau for the first four days of the Lunar New Year holiday rose 6.7 percent to 443,421 compared with the same lunar calendar period a year ago, according data from the Macau Government Tourist Office.
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