Gross gaming revenue in Macau increased for a third consecutive month in October as efforts for turning China’s special administrative region into a family- and mass market player-friendly destination have clearly started paying off.
Gaming venues at the world’s largest gambling hub generated a total of MOP21.8 billion last month, up 8.8% year-on-year, figures reported by the local gambling regulator – the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau showed. Gross gaming revenue for the ten months ended October 31, 2016 amounted to MOP184.6 billion, reflecting a 5.8% decrease from the same period of the previous year.
October showed the city casinos’ best result since January 2015 when the gambling venues generated a total of MOP23 .8 billion.
Gambling revenue in Macau, the only Chinese territory where casinos are legal, started rising in August when the growth was a mere 1.1% one. Prior to that, the city had recorded 26 consecutive months of revenue plunge, ensuing from an anti-graft campaign led by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Up until recently, the gambling hub was highly reliant on Mainland China high roller players, who represented the greater portion of casino customers and the one to spend the most at local gambling venues. Following President Jinping’s campaign, Macau officials called for diversification of the products and services offered in the city and the creation of a more family-friendly environment.
Most recently, Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts, two of the biggest players on the global gambling scene, opened luxury integrated resorts with a wide variety of offering for non-gambling customers and mass market players. It seems that the alteration of course has started impacting the local casino industry in a positive manner.
Wynn Palace opened doors on the Cotai Strip late in August and Las Vegas Sands debuted its complex – The Parisian Macao – a month later. According to analysts, the two new resorts have so far demonstrated strong volumes and overall performance.
Last month’s positive result was also attributed to the National Day Gold Week, which took place at the beginning of October. The week-long national holiday festivities brought almost a million visitors from Mainland China to the special administrative region.
Macau casinos’ performance from the past several months indicated that the city is perfectly capable of reaching and even exceeding the MOP200-billion gross gaming revenue mark, projected by Lionel Leong Vai Tac, the city’s Secretary for economic and financial matters.
