In three years of increased difficulties, few opportunities were born from the pandemic. The marketing of products online intensified, delivery platforms gained dimension and preponderance in the market, and many young graduates who did not pursue any of these areas were forced to follow entrepreneurship, putting their feet up in Hengqin.
Here, stress the importance of government guidelines, which are clear about the need to create new entrepreneurial generations in the diversification industries. On the priority list, however, must be the revival of the gaming industry. It is known that its health infects the others and allows for economic recovery. But the jolt has been great.
The zero-case policy has closed the border and Beijing has torn up the VIP business model. The risk of the budget not being met is real and this time, the pandemic excuse will not stick.
Will the mass market be enough? Hardly.
As far as tourist arrivals are concerned, January starts well, having already reached last week the number expected by the authorities to meet the annual target: 40,000 visitors per day. But it is important to emphasize that, as PLATAFORMA advanced last week, more relevant than the quantity, is the level of consumption of each visitor.
Read more about it: The tourists wanted in Macau
We will also see in the 1st quarter of 2023 how much GDP they produce.
On the other hand, as tourism and gambling recover, which will be vital for what’s to come, the pandemic has also laid bare that Macau needs (much) more.
The dependence on visitors is very strong and obviously there are limits to the ability to get around that reality. Macau is not unique in the world: several countries use tourism as an economic engine – even those that benefit from other weapons. However, there has to be a minimum guarantee of budgetary sustainability.
For the gambling industry to have less impact on GDP, it is necessary to prepare now.
If gambling’s days are numbered, diversification is years behind.
*Executive Director of PLATAFORMA
