Australian Casinos Seeking a Share of Asia-Pacific Gambling

With Australian population of just over 20 million, Australian casino operators are seeking a lion’s share of Asian gambling revenues.

One operator, James Packer, will axe hundreds of management jobs as Asian casinos are entering the land Down Under. As the lay-offs announcement is a shock to many, Australian gambling news reports that table card dealers will not be affected as they are the muscle of casino operations, raking in millions in revenues.

Instead, some fat will be cut among the management ranks including supervisors and operation managers. At the same time, the company is looking to add the dealer count.

As Australian gambling laws permit a broad range of casino and other gaming, Asian competitors, especially Singapore-based ones, have been giving some tough competition to their Australian counterparts.

In addition, gamblers and sports betting punters can Play online casino in Australia as easily as go to a land-based punting establishment. This is straining many casinos in the country.

To respond, James Packer is restructuring operations in Crown Casino with axing of jobs in the areas not related to direct revenue generation such as roles involving layers of often redundant management.

The money will be spent on refurbishment of its casinos, to make them more attractive and bring in many players, especially the rich Asian gamblers that have been going to Macau. It is estimated that there are as many as 30 million potential cash-rich clients in China alone.

At the same time, the tough competition will not cease as other countries, including Philippines and Vietnam, are building land-based casino resorts to expand the offering to increasingly wealthy Asian clients. So far, Australia seems to be losing as its share of Asia-Pacific region gambling revenue has declined from 30% to under 10% in recent years.