Your Daily Asia Gaming eBrief: COTRI pegs China reopening for CNY 2023

Good Morning. Professor Wolfgang Arlt, a well-regarded outbound Chinese travel expert is pegging the 2023 Lunar New Year as the point in time that China’s long-closed travel borders will finally be opened. Today’s Face-to-Face interview discusses why the professor has singled out this time period for reopening. He also discusses what to expect from his participation in the upcoming ASEAN Gaming Summit 2022, organized by Asia Gaming Brief.

What you need to know

• Melco Resorts’ EBITDA fell short of analyst expectations in 1Q22, as Covid-19 travel restrictions continued to impact the operational and financial performance.
• The Labor Day holiday saw a total of 137,000 visitor arrivals in Macau, a little over 25 percent of the visitor arrival numbers in the same period in 2019. 
• South Korea is set to reinstate visa-free tourism starting in June, allowing foreign travelers to stay in the country legally for 30 days without a visa in Jeju and Yangyang.

On the radar

• PAGCOR will find new ways to generate revenue: Malacañang
• Pragmatic Play releases the classic slot experience Fire Strike 2.

What the papers say

• Vietnam's intl arrivals are up 185% from 2021 in the first four months.
• Passenger volumes at SG airport were 40% of pre-pandemic levels in Apr.
• AAEC ‘intentionally distorted facts’ in legal action against LVS: Macau court.

AGB Intelligence

FACE TO FACE

China reopening most likely late Jan/Feb 2023: COTRI CEO

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