Focus Gaming News analyses the future of the gaming industry in Macau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Macau.- After almost two years seriously impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic<\/strong>, Macau began 2022 ready to introduce a series of changes intended to strengthen its economy, which has been highly dependent on tourism and gambling. In January,\u00a0the government announced amendments to the gaming regulatory framework <\/strong>following four\u00a0public consultations<\/a> held between October 22 and 25, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the time in between, the gaming industry felt the shock of the arrests of\u00a0Alvin Chau Cheok Wa<\/a>, former CEO of Suncity Group Holdings, and of Levo Chan Weng Linth, the former CEO of\u00a0Macau Legend<\/strong>\u00a0and chairman of\u00a0Tak Chun Group<\/strong>. But although this all gives the impression of sudden and dramatic change, Macau has actually been changing for the best part of a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The junket sector, for example, has been consolidating since 2013. Suncity benefited from this consolidation and may have been responsible for almost half of the junket business in Macau before the pandemic. At the start of 2022, Macau\u2019s regulator listed just\u00a042 companies licenced for gaming promotion<\/strong> compared to more than 200 in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In turn, the casinos have earned a diminishing share of their revenues from VIP customers. VIPs contributed 80 per cent of baccarat revenues in 2011. In Q4 2019, before the pandemic, that had fallen to 51 per cent. It was just 29 per cent in Q4 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Due to this situation, casinos have been adapting their models to reflect the changing situation and reduced the junket business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As seasoned industry observers at Global Betting & Gaming Consultants (GBGC) note,\u00a0Sands and Wynn Resorts have the experience of growing their non-gaming entertainment in Las Vegas<\/strong>\u00a0and they are bringing that to bear at their Macau properties. Looking at their Macau websites, you wouldn\u2019t know they even have a casino in their resorts. Gaming barely gets a mention. The focus is on dining, shopping and shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Macau\u2019s gaming revenues are at a low. At its peak, Macau accounted for 10 per cent of all global gambling revenues but in 2021 it accounted for just 2 per cent<\/strong>.\u00a0That’s a measure of how much Macau is suffering. At the moment, however, there is little immediate competition to its title as the \u2018Las Vegas of Asia\u2019, according to GBGC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n See also:<\/strong> Macau to revise GGR forecast for 2022<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nMacau will remain the “Las Vegas of Asia” for now<\/h2>\n\n\n\n