New Zealand<\/a> as an instructive example: “For more than two decades it was unlawful to offer online casino games, yet lawful to play them. Residents spent freely on offshore platforms, with no consumer protections, no avenue of recourse and no revenue to the state. The prohibition was real on paper. Its practical effect was to hand the entire market to operators the government could not reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n“The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, in force from 1 May, does not create an industry. It recognises one that already exists and brings it within a framework that can actually govern harm. Up to 15 licensed platforms will operate under player set limits, exclusion tools, advertising controls, a credit card ban and a duty that returns revenue to communities.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Newson, respecting local sensitivities and remaining competitive are not opposing goals. They are part of the same regulatory discipline, and the real question is whether a regime is calibrated well enough to keep consumers inside the licensed perimeter. He concludes: “Channelisation, not the severity of the rules, is the measure that matters.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Respect as a framework<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For Riaan Van Rooyen<\/strong>, competitiveness should not come at the expense of cultural and political sensitivities.<\/p>\n\n\n\nInstead, he argues, competitiveness becomes the natural outcome when those sensitivities are genuinely respected and built into the regulatory and operating framework. He says: “When considering gaming expansion, I believe decisions should be viewed through four lenses: the Regulatory Lens, the Commercial Lens, the Cultural Lens, and the Human Lens. Sustainable outcomes occur when all four are aligned rather than when one is prioritised at the expense of the others.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Van Rooyen also stresses that both internal industry forces and external forces must work together in support of local realities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his words, the key is respect. “When governments, regulators, operators, employees, and communities feel respected, trust is created. Trust creates sustainability. Sustainability ultimately creates competitiveness,” he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Research and consensus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Glenn McCartney<\/strong> approaches the issue from the perspective of process and evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe argues that the introduction or expansion of land-based casino regulation should be accompanied by longitudinal research to gather and track feedback and sentiment on proposed regulation. This, he says, is essential to understanding cultural and political sensitivities, as well as the concerns and priorities of stakeholders who may be directly or indirectly affected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That includes government, communities, leadership figures, casino operators and the hospitality and leisure sectors. McCartney says the empirical findings can help suggest ways forward and, just as importantly, support a dynamic communication framework aimed at building greater consensus and understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He adds that this process can also inform the business side of regulation, including how a jurisdiction might differentiate itself competitively from other casino markets in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Local design, stable rules<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For Zuhair Rizvi<\/strong>, the jurisdictions that get this balance right treat cultural and political sensitivity as a design input rather than something patched in later.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe says that means working with local regulators and communities instead of importing a template from Macau or Singapore. In his view, competitiveness does not have to mean matching a neighbour\u2019s tax rate; it can mean becoming the market operators trust because the rules are clear and do not change with the next government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rizvi argues that “the countries winning long-term operators are the ones that get the sequencing right: credible regulation first, market opening second.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Culture shapes the product<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For Sudhir H. Kale<\/strong>, gambling in Asia sits at the intersection of religion, superstition, social hierarchy and national regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHe argues that this requires significant adaptation in games, floor layouts, service style and luck-based rituals. He points to the dominance of Baccarat in markets such as Macau, Singapore, Manila and Cambodia, where it can account for 60 to 85 per cent of table games revenue, as well as the continued presence of older games such as Sic Bo, Pai Gow and Fan Tan because of familiarity and cultural superstition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kale also notes that Feng Shui plays a major role in the design of Asian casinos, helping to create what he describes as a \u201clucky flow\u201d. At the same time, exotic side bets and promotions built around occasions such as Lunar New Year, Golden Week and Songkran reflect the importance of culturally specific player behaviour and expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Above all, there is a key difference between Asian and Western casino clientele: As Walt Power said, ‘In America, when a customer enters a casino, he is there to entertain himself, to have a good time. When an Asian customer enters a casino, he is there to do battle with destiny, to win.’ It behoves casino operators in Asia to adapt their cultural practices around this distinction,” he says.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\t\t\t
See also:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2026\/04\/8e0aa298-e728-4187-af19-2ebb61169e26-300x200.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> South Korea voluntary reporting programme records 806 youth gambling cases in two months<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As more Asia-Pacific countries consider or expand casino and online regulation, five industry voices explain how governments can respect local cultural and political sensitivities while remaining competitive against neighbouring jurisdictions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":777045245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The article explores how Asia-Pacific jurisdictions can expand or refine gaming regulation while respecting local cultural and political sensitivities and maintaining competitiveness. Industry experts emphasize \"channelisation\" \u2013 keeping gaming activity within licensed perimeters \u2013 as the true measure of a credible regime, exemplified by New Zealand's approach. They advocate for integrating cultural respect into regulatory frameworks to foster trust and sustainable outcomes.","focusai_entities":"Vanguard Overwatch, Regulating the Game, Gaming Associates, GamePlan Consultants, Focus Gaming News, Paul Newson, Riaan Van Rooyen, Glenn McCartney, Zuhair Rizvi, Sudhir H. Kale","focusai_location":"Asia-Pacific, New Zealand","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), affiliate_publisher (0.7), product_ux (0.7), marketing_crm (0.75), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.85), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"APAC Regulatory Frameworks","query":"How will the emphasis on \"channelisation\" and cultural sensitivity in APAC regulatory design impact market entry strategies and competitive dynamics for international operators?"},{"label":"New Zealand Act Impact","query":"What specific operational and compliance challenges might arise for operators under New Zealand's Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, particularly regarding player protection tools and revenue allocation?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,25055,154],"tags":[29,1897,337],"class_list":["post-777045244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-featured-block-home","category-legislation-news","tag-casino","tag-igaming","tag-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777045244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777045244"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777045244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777045249,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777045244\/revisions\/777045249"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777045245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777045244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777045244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777045244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}