Macau’s Fall Opens the Door for New Gambling Attractions in Asia

Several new gambling centers in the Asian region are trying to fulfill the empty place left by Macau.

Macau, a former Portuguese colony and special administrative region in the south eastern part of China, is currently experiencing a decline in fortunes. Although only a few years ago it was considered to be one of the greatest gambling centers in the world, Macau is now having a noticeable decline in its revenues due to antigambling laws in China, reposts gaming news.

What went wrong with Macau?

The fall in the economic development of Macau, however, opens the door for other gambling centers in Asia and Australia to establish themselves as leading gambling destinations in this part of the world. This is especially the case with the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam which are already implementing legislatives that stimulate the incomes of the gambling sector. This, according to many experts, will make some of the most attractive destinations for gamblers all over the globe.

• Macau’s see revenues decline in recent years
• Other gambling centers in Asia rise
• Lots to be done for the “new Macau”

The most important cause for the considerable decline of the gambling revenues in Macau was the new anti-corruption legislative launched by the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping. All money transfers between Macau and China were put under a strict examination by regulatory commissions. This was a reason for many “high rollers” who provided around 70% of the casino revenues to look for another gambling locations or bet for lower amounts of money. But since Macau is the only legal gambling center in the country according to the Chinese gambling laws, this moved VIP gamblers not only out of Macau but out of China too.

The potential of the new centers

The countries in the region with more relaxed regulatory laws concerning gambling such as Singapore, The Philippines, Vietnam, including South Korea, are using this opportunity to establish their gambling centers as leaders in the Asian gambling industry. They offer to the tourists not only from China but form all over the world lower taxes on the profits they will make from gambling. However they still haven’t attracted all the big money gamblers that deserted Macau. Aaron Fischer, CLSA regional head of consumer and gaming research in Hong Kong, remarks that the VIP revenues of Macau decline for USD 12 billion from between 2013 and 2014, but this figure was not absorbed by any of the above mentioned countries.

However CLSA noticed that this is a trend that is going to be changed in future. In their report they state that the VIP gambling revenues of Cambodia for 2014 has grown for 32 % and those of the Philippines, where a new City of Dreams complex has been built in 2014, had an amazing increase of 92 % for the same year, gambling news reports. What is usually considered as condition for one to be qualified as a VIP gambler, is to wager at least $1 million during a single visit. However, although the VIP revenues increase in these countries with very high growing rates, in absolute terms these achievements are not that big. The USD 12 billion that went out of Macau cannot be covered. The reason why these centers are not capitalizing fully the fall of Macau is that they do not offer stimulation for junket operators, companies that bring big-money gamblers in the casinos by offering possible VIP gamblers preferential treatment.

According to gambling news, there are also three more reasons why Macau is unable to fully collect potential revenues. The first one can be found in the fact that countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines do not possess highly-developed networks of infrastructure such as highways or speed railways. The considerably high crime rates in these countries, are usually mentioned by experts on the issue, as another main feature that contributes significantly to the inability to attract VIP gamblers. The last but not least is the impossibility of these new centers to offer to tourists a wider range of entertainment activities that go beyond gambling.