Monday’s announcement by the National Immigration Administration (NIA) that electronic applications for individual and group travel visas to Macau would reopen from Tuesday is a “great boon” for Macau’s return to normalcy and could help operators print positive EBITDA by December, according to JP Morgan.

In a note, research analyst DS Kim observed that the NIA’s announcement suggests eVisas will resume for 49 eligible cities from tomorrow, rather than the phased roll-out originally predicted. He also said the process appears to be the same as pre-COVID days – near-instantaneous with on-site approval from a walk-in and no need for pre-registration, visa interviews or seven-plus days of waiting.