MACAU BUSINESS


ttracting premium patrons, improving margins, and accelerating economic diversification were among the themes that surfaced repeatedly in conversations about Macau at Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia, the region’s flagship casino trade show and conference, which recently concluded in the city.


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Organised by RX (Reed Exhibitions) and presented by the American Gaming Association, the 17th edition of G2E Asia, alongside its non-gaming companion event, Asian IR Expo, was held at the Venetian Macao from 12 to 14 May. Spanning more than 30,000 square metres, the two shows drew over 120 exhibitors representing 150 brands, including 30 first-time participants showcasing offerings such as digital entertainment systems, audiovisual technology and robotics.


“Global headwinds, from geopolitical shifts to ever-changing travel patterns and evolving consumer behaviour, … continue to shape the environment we operate in,” Bill Miller, president and chief executive officer of the American Gaming Association, said during the event. “Responsibility, innovation, and consumer protection are what define successful gaming markets. Trust is the foundation of a sustainable industry, and it’s built through transparency, accountability, and integrity.” One of the events’ highlights was a keynote by Grant Chum Kwan Lock, chief executive officer and president of Macau gaming operator Sands China. He argued that political stability, a cluster of world-class integrated resorts that few jurisdictions can replicate, and robust demand from mainland Chinese consumers have underpinned Macau’s gaming boom.


Pointing to Cotai’s dense concentration of 11 integrated resorts in close proximity, Mr Chum said, “No other city, certainly in Asia, can match this unparalleled critical mass of premium integrated resorts, all in one place [and] so easily accessible in a wonderfully stable environment that is fun but also very safe for visitors.”


He cited rising construction costs as a barrier for other markets hoping to replicate Macau’s formula. Sands China invested about US$2.4 billion (MOP19.37 billion) to build the Venetian Macao, which opened in 2007, but developing a project of comparable scale today, he estimated, would cost roughly US$11 billion to US$12 billion.


With coordinated support from local and central governments, he added, Macau can “advance diversification to a new level” over the next five to 10 years. “I think diversification will continue to progress if we focus on integration,” he said. “It started with integrating gaming and non-gaming, [and] progressed to integrating all of the diverse non-gaming amenities.”


DIVERSIFICATION


MGM China Holdings, one of Sands China’s peers in Macau, also emphasised the commitment of the city’s six gaming operators to diversify Macau’s economy away from gaming, in step with policies from the Macau government and Beijing. Speaking at one of the roughly 30 panel and keynote sessions at G2E Asia and Asian IR Expo 2026, Kenneth Feng, chief executive officer and executive director of MGM China, said Macau operators have been “working very hard” over the past three to four years to expand non-gaming offerings.


“In order to do more non-gaming efforts, we need to be more profitable… It’s becoming a balancing game,” he said. As long as Macau remains a “big-number” gaming market, around US$30 billion a year, and gross gaming revenue continues to grow at a single-digit pace while margins hold up, the city’s six operators can invest to position Macau “more interestingly, differently, uniquely” than competing jurisdictions, he added.


Since the start of new 10-year concessions in 2023, Macau’s six operators have committed to invest MOP108.7 billion (US$13.47 billion) in non-gaming initiatives from 2023 to 2032. That requirement rose by 20 per cent to more than MOP130.4 billion after gross gaming revenue surpassed a pre-set threshold of MOP180 billion in 2023. Mr Feng also addressed areas of concern that have surfaced in recent months, including Macau operators’ push to upgrade accommodation by adding more suites, and the cost of player reinvestment in an increasingly competitive market. Suites, he said, can generate about five times the yield of a standard room in Macau because they cater to a different customer base, namely the premium segment.


MARGIN PRESSURE


On player reinvestment, he said operators are paying closer attention to EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) margin as a clearer measure of performance, and MGM China has kept its margin in the “mid-20s to high-20s” range in recent years. “It’s not purely a reinvestment game at all. Performance really depends on your products, your services, your innovation, whether you can follow the trend, what customers want, and reinvestment. It’s a package,” he said.


Margin pressure has also caught the attention of gaming analysts. In a breakdown of Asian gaming jurisdictions, Praveen Choudhary, managing director and head of Asian gaming and lodging at Morgan Stanley, said that while Macau’s gross gaming revenue has continued to recover in the post-Covid period, sector EBITDA margins have declined


No other city,


certainly in Asia, can match this unparalleled critical mass of premium integrated resorts [in Macau] initiatives


Grant Chum Kwan Lock, chief executive officer and president of Sands China


for three consecutive years.


Return on invested capital, he added, has fallen from about 22 per cent pre-Covid to roughly 14–15 per cent now. Operating expenses are also running at around 130 per cent of pre-Covid levels, reflecting higher reinvestment costs and intensified promotional competition for premium customers.


A similar view was voiced by Vitaly Umansky, senior research analyst for global gaming at Seaport Research Partners. “The Macau market has changed significantly from where it was right before Covid,” he said. “Every single operator in Macau is buying business now and they have to do it because it’s a highly competitive market.” The gaming analysts suggested the Asian market, particularly Macau, has moved into a more mature phase marked by slower growth. “There is an argument to be made that [Macau is] in a mature market,” Mr Umansky


JUNE 2026 27


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