China Travel Curbs Hurt Macau Casino Revenue

China's restrictions on travel to Macau by mainland residents slowed casino revenue growth in the peak month of August, the Macao Daily News reported, without citing anyone.
Gaming revenue rose 44 percent to 9.6 billion patacas ($1.2 billion), a "moderate'' figure for a peak month, the newspaper reported yesterday. Revenue was down from 10.3 billion patacas in January and 10.1 billion patacas in March, it said. Macau recorded gaming revenue of 9.2 billion patacas in July.

Casino revenue growth for September is expected to drop further, the newspaper said.

China's government cut the number of times its citizens are allowed to travel to Macau independent of tour groups to once a month from twice as of June 1, then to once every two months from July 1. The restrictions are aimed at curbing gambling growth in the city, the only place in China where casinos are legal.