Macau Casinos Toss Free Drinks, Snacks on Government Orders
Recently, Macau casinos were told to reduce the amount of free snacks and drinks they provide to guests. The local administration asserts that the decreased freebies have not had a materially detrimental effect on their enterprises.
The movement of individuals into and out of the Chinese Special Administrative Region (SAR) is tracked by Macau's Government Tourism Office (MGTO). An update on the effects of the removal of free snacks and beverages from the casino floors on traffic was given by MGTO Deputy Director Ricky Hoi.
"The number of tourists who visited Macau last weekend reached 110,000 and 120,000, respectively, and I believe that the main purpose of tourists coming to Macau is not for free snacks at the casinos,” Hoi said tongue in cheek.
“We don’t see any impact on the number of tourists for the time being. When compared with the past weekends, we didn’t notice any drop in terms of the number of tourists,” Hoi added.
Freebies Have Increased
In most American casino floors, free beverages (including alcoholic ones) are standard, particularly in larger areas like Atlantic City and Las Vegas. But free drinks had not always been the standard in Macau, China.
It was only lately that Macau casinos started offering complimentary drinks to players and snacks as a way to redirect their marketing efforts toward the mainstream market.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, the Macau SAR government ordered the majority of VIP junket operators to leave the country at Beijing's request. As a result, there were considerably fewer high rollers in the area, which forced the six casino owners to shift their focus to the general public in order to maintain the activity of their table games and slots.
The various lanes that branch off from the piazza downtown, particularly downtown near Senado Square, are home to local businesses that rely largely on tourists to maintain the profitability of their convenience stores and dive bars. The business owners lodged complaints with the authorities, claiming that their storefront money had been stolen by the casinos with their giveaways.
Rather than grabbing a bottle of water and some chips from the store, a traveler could visit a casino, wager $5 on a slot machine, get free drinks and snacks, and who knows? They might even hit the jackpot.
Social media influencers were held accountable for the removal of the freebies, in addition to small businesses informing the Macau SAR Government about the rise in giveaways at the casinos.
Many films that explain how to visit Macau on a budget have been uploaded to WeChat, TikTok, and Wiebo in recent months. The influencers' videos showed how one could eat and drink for almost nothing for a whole day at the Chinese casino district.
Rebounding Visitor Traffic
About 28.2 million tourists visited Macau in year, which was by far the highest number since the COVID-19 pandemic. But the number of visitors from the previous year was still just 72 percent of the 39.4 million or more that the enclave had before the epidemic in 2019.
Revenue from gaming has also not increased from 2019 levels. In the first full year without pandemic limitations in the region, the six casinos collectively won a cool $22.7 billion last year. Just 63% of the $36.3 billion won by the gambling operators in 2019 was represented by the $22.7 billion.
Macau's casinos require strong visitor numbers and a stronger Chinese economy, which is still exhibiting symptoms of weakness amid a downturn in manufacturing, in order to reach 2019 gaming totals.