MACAU BUSINESS
Macau used to account for 67 per cent of the US$20- billion (MOP160-billion) VIP gaming market in Asia in 2019, followed by Singapore (9 per cent), the Philippines (7 per cent), Cambodia (6 per cent) and Malaysia (4 per cent), according to investment bank Morgan Stanley. But the segment shrank to just US$4 billion in the first half of this year owing to Beijing’s crackdown on gambling and COVID-related travel restrictions implemented in Mainland China and the city, the brokerage said. Macau maintained the leading position in the Asian VIP market in the first six months of 2022 with a smaller share of 35 per cent, while other Asian jurisdictions enjoyed a “bigger share of a smaller pie”, it added, for instance, 25 per cent for the Philippines and 24 per cent for Singapore.
Less advantages
Gaming consultancy Global Betting & Gaming Consultants (GBGC) also said in a recent research note that there is limited immediate competition the Macau gaming industry faces in the region at the moment. “The most serious contender is the Philippines, which has developed several integrated resorts to rival Macau. It has also recently allowed licence holders to begin online gaming operations, which is an advantage over Macau’s concessions. But Macau retains the geographical advantage of its proximity to mainland China,” the agency said. Zeng Zhonglu, a professor at the Centre for Gaming and
Tourism Studies of Macau Polytechnic University, agrees that the city still has an edge over other rivals in the region. “Given its long history, the Macau gaming industry will definitely remain competitive in the region in the future,” the academic says. “But the advantages the industry has enjoyed in the past two decades and more will become less and less given the regional competition, including new jurisdictions liberalising casino gambling.” Japan, which is tipped by analysts to be a major force in
“We’re more concerned about the Macau recovery because of China’s economy… [which] has been pretty weak because of all these geopolitical tensions between China and other countries in the world, mostly with the U.S.,” says Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Angela Han Lee
22 OCTOBER 2022
the Asian gaming market, has greenlighted all relevant casino gambling legislation, and two prefectures applied to the Japanese national government earlier this year for a licence to develop a gaming resort. The market believes the Japanese authorities could announce the results of the applications later this year and the nation’s first casino could be ready by late 2020’s. Besides the world’s third largest economy, Thailand is
also mulling the possibility of embracing casinos with open arms. The National Assembly of Thailand set up a special committee last December to mull the possibility of developing casino complexes in the country in a bid to attract more foreign tourists and diversify the government’s source of income. There is no timeline yet when the Southeast Asian state will legalise casino gambling, but the authorities are said to mull over five possible locations for casinos, including the capital Bangkok. “With more and more jurisdictions opening up for casino gambling, some gamblers will be attracted to these places for fresh new experiences,” Professor Zeng reasons, who questions whether the city has enough new offerings and facilities to appeal to gamblers in the next few years. The
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