Macau retailers and restaurants struggling

Most Macau retailers and restaurants have had a difficult October, reporting depressed sales.

More than half of the city’s dining establishments had strong revenue declines for the month, with just a quarter reporting a slight improvement.

According to the latest industry climate survey by the Department of Statistics and Census Services (DSEC), the 26 per cent of respondents who had increased turnover say this was driven by an increase in visitors to the city during the one-week National Day holiday.

Overall, the rise in revenue was 5 per cent compared to September. But for 49 per cent of the Chinese restaurants interviewed and 13 per cent of the Japanese and Korean restaurants, revenue was up by 20 and 6 per cent respectively.

However, 51 per cent of the respondents reported a decrease in turnover of 12 per cent overall.

Macau’s retail sector paints a similar picture. About 58 per cent of respondents (1 per cent more than in September) saw their turnover fall, while about 35 per cent (5 per cent more) reported increased sales.

By sector, leather goods retailers had higher sales, as did 53 per cent of the watches, clocks and jewellery segment, half of adult clothing retailers, 44 per cent of supermarkets and 22 per cent of department stores.

A 20 per cent or more drop in sales was reported by 78 per cent of department stores and 60 per cent of cosmetics and healthcare retailers.

Survey respondents do not expect the situation to change soon.