Drastic Fall in Macau Casino Revenue

9 years ago
Drastic Fall in Macau Casino Revenue
17:29
03 Mar

Gaming revenue of the world’s biggest gambling empire has fell for 49% in February as China kept wealthy high-stakes players away from Macau during the Lunar New Year holiday period. February gaming revenue fell to $2.45 billion (19.45 billion patacas) from 38 billion patacas in 2014 when Macau posted its first ever annual decline in gaming revenue.

The intense anti-corruption campaign, led by the Chinese president XI Jinping can certainly be blamed for gambling revenue decline in Macau. People are still coming to Macau but mostly those from the low spending target groups because Xi Jinping has frightened away wealthy Chinese gamblers from tables and strangled the junket industry.

Junket operators’ business is to provide credit for high rollers and arrange trips. Many of the junket operators have shut down their operations due to the tightened visa rules so wealthy players are now taken to Asian Centers like Vietnam and South Korea.

Associate director of Simsen International Financial Group Jackson Wong believes that revenue will probably stabilize and maybe improve in the upcoming months due to the new resorts that are scheduled to open later this year. The new resorts will certainly have a positive impact on gambling revenue especially because they are promising everything from dining options to family entertainment.

President Xi wants Macau to stop relying only on the gambling revenue so the new resorts are required to increase non-gaming amenities. Las Vegas Sands is currently working on $2.7 billion Parisian Macau project which is their fourth property at Cotai Strip Resorts Macao. The Parisian Macau is expected to be open later this year with about 3,000 rooms, replica Eifel Tower, various food and beverage options and entertainment.

Macau, the only place in China where gambling is legal, will probably face another gambling revenue decline due to the tighter visa policies for the mainland Chinese visitors and new bill that was proposed to completely ban smoking at casinos.

The Reuters reporters visited four of Macau’s casinos at the time of the Chinese New Year Holidays, expecting a lot of people at casino’s tables. What they found, however, was quite shocking; numerous tables were empty and VIP rooms were mostly desolate. Currently, Macau is hoping to attract more tourists with the non-gaming attractions in order to boost the economy.

Photo: thetimes.co.uk


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Ines is a Journalism student with many interests, poker being one of these. Her passion to learn and develop her horizons make her a valuable contributor to the site's content.Read more

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