People are flocking to Macau in even higher numbers than a year ago. Figures have revealed there was a 9.4% rise in May compared with the previous year as 2.3 million arrived on the Chinese gambling enclave. Most of those visiting were from Mainland China as 1.3 million made the short trip, up 16.8% on last year. The largest increase was those visiting from South Korea as 32,000 jetted in, up 26.2% from last year. It was in stark contrast to the number of Japanese visitors that decreased by 22.2% to 29,000. The total amount of arrivals in the first five months of the year hit 11 million, up 7.2% on last year.
After experiencing a very successful May, Galaxy Entertainment Group is hoping to recoup its investment in its latest project by 2017. The Galaxy Macau, on the Cotai strip, is the newest casino in the region and chief financial officer Robert Drake explained to Bloomberg that he expects yearly returns of 14 to 17% on the casino.
He told Bloomberg, “We’re very pleased with the performance so far. If the market continues on its current trajectory, then we’ll probably announce plans sooner [to develop the rest of the Galaxy Macau plot] rather than later.”
There were rumors earlier this month that Permira was thinking of selling its stake in Galaxy and you can’t imagine there’ll be a shortage of takers. Chairman Lui Che-woo also reiterated how successful the company currently is, telling Bloomberg, “We have risen to second place in terms of market share.”
