Operator News

Malaysia – Domestic tourism driving return to form for Genting in Malaysia

By Phil - 18 September 2020

Nomura research analysts believe Genting Malaysia will see a bounce back in its EBITDA from the fourth quarter of 2020, thanks to a recovery in domestic tourism boosting visitation at its hilltop Malaysian casino Resorts World Genting.

It highlights that Resorts World Genting is showing strong signs of recovery already with up to 40,000 visitors per day and with half of its hotel rooms gaining 90 per cent average occupancy since reopening in June.

Nomura said: “We expect Resorts World Genting to stage a gradual recovery over the coming quarters, with a sharp inflection come FY22 with the opening of the theme park (official timeline is mid-2021, but prone to slippages). The good footfalls seen at the Malaysian casino since reopening in June due to low dependence on a foreign clientele, should result in a turnaround in EBITDA from the 4Q20 results season.”

While international inbound traffic is essentially negligible, domestic tourism seems to be filling the void, as Malaysians are vacationing within the country,” it added. “A study of Google Search Trends in Malaysia shows that while airline search trends are still below pre-COVID-19 levels, searches for terms relevant for local tourism within Malaysia such as ‘hotel bookings’ and ‘Genting’ are almost back to pre-COVID-19 levels, whereas search trends for COVID -19 have declined, suggesting fading fear factor.”