Macau, the world’s largest casino hub, has finally shown signs of recovery after posting terrific monthly revenue slumps for more than two years. Gross gaming revenue beat analysts’ expectations in September and increased 7.4% to MOP18.4 billion ($2.3 billion), according to data posted by the city’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
September was the second month of casino revenue growth, after a 1.1% increase was reported in August. The improved numbers were attributed mainly to the opening of two new integrated casino resorts, with both properties offering innovative mass market gaming options and non-gaming attractions.
Wynn Palace was launched in August to become Wynn Resorts’ first hotel and casino complex on the Cotai Strip. Las Vegas Sands and its Asian subsidiary – Sands China – debuted The Parisian Macao in mid-September. As mentioned above, both resorts were developed in a manner that complied with the Macau government’s recommendations that casino operators should provide more non-gambling options for visitors of the administrative region, known to be the only place in China where cassino gambling is legal.
The last two months of revenue growth posted were preceded by more than two years of serious, sometimes two-digit, slumps. Macau, which had replaced Las Vegas as the world’s most popular and profitable gambling destination, suffered severely from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on corruption, targeting top Mainland China business executives and political figures who accidentally turned out to be frequent casino visitors.
As a result from the campaign, many Chinese high rollers chose to keep a low profile and to avoid the alluring VIP rooms at Macau’s casinos. During his last visit to the city, President Jinping told local officials that Macau should become less dependent on its casino industry and try to attract visitors with a different type of entertainment.
This year’s Chinese National Day Golden Week began on October 1. The week-long national holiday is typically a favorable period for Macau as a greater number of tourists visit the city. However, analysts believe that the October revenue figures may be marred by the expected visit of China’s Premier Li Keqiang.
President Jinping’s visit in December 2014 was the last time a Mainland China top official went to Macau. As mentioned above, the President was extremely critical of the city’s casino industry during that visit. It seems that the shadow of the government’s disposition towards high profile Chinese citizens gambling at local casinos is still lingering in the former Portuguese colony and this is why analysts believe that Premier Keqiang’s visit will affect negatively October results, particularly the ones in the VIP segment.
