THE MACAU METRO MONITOR, JANUARY 22, 2014
HOLIDAY ROOMS COST MORE THAN JAPAN, LAS VEGAS Macau Business Daily
Average hotel room prices in Macau are HK$4,000 or US$516 per night for this year’s Lunar New Year period – higher than a five-star hotel room rate in Japan over the same period. The average nightly five-star rate for Macau in 2013 was 1,732 patacas – 138% cheaper – according to the Macau Hotel Association.
Around 270 million Chinese people – about a fifth of the mainland population – are eligible under China’s Individual Visit Scheme to come to Macau. The city presently has only about 22,000 hotel rooms. The issue was even mentioned last week by Li Gang, the central government’s new chief representative in Macau. “There are currently about 22,000 hotel rooms in Macau only, but in Las Vegas they have six times the hotel rooms than we have to serve an annual visitor number of 36 million,” Li stated.
TAM AUTHORIZED TO EXTEND LOTTERY MONOPOLY Macau Business Daily
Sociedade de Lotarias Wing Hing Lda is likely to have its monopoly right to run a Chinese lottery in Macau extended until December 31, 2014. The city’s Official Gazette yesterday said that Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On had delegated Francis Tam Pak Yuen, Secretary for Economy and Finance, to grant the extension, and “amend the concession contract”.
Annual revenue for the lottery, known locally as Pa Ka Pio or Pacapio, has been around six million patacas (US$751,00) since 2007. The Official Gazette listed SJM Holdings’ directors Angela Leong On Kei and Louis Ng Chi Sing in June 2011 as directors of Wing Hing. Wing Hing pays the government 23% of its revenue, plus 5% to the Macao Foundation.