Mixed New Year’s Blessings for Macau’s Casinos
The continued rise of Macau as the world’s foremost gambling destination has been one of the shining success stories of Asia’s on-going economic miracle. Mirroring the growing wealth of the mainland Chinese population, such has been the increase in visitor numbers and revenue seen by the territory’s casinos that Macau now overshadows the likes of Las Vegas in terms of both.
Nevertheless, there remain certain times of year which even Macau’s bustling casinos still look towards to bring in even more visitors and revenue than usual. And of those periods, the Lunar New Year is the biggest.
Macau’s boom period
Given Macau’s dependence on visitors from the mainland (and its fellow special administrative regions, such as Hong Kong), this shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Lunar New Year is typically a time when the Chinese population spends money on gifts and travel. And with its glitzy casinos and luxury hotels, Macau is now an attractive destination for an China’s increasingly affluent middle and upper classes.
With many Chinese typically taking a week off during this time, it’s not uncommon for Macau’s casinos to lay on lavish events throughout this time including New Year shows. In years gone past, this has proven to be a big draw, and 2013 was no exception.
According to official statistics, 1.28 million visitor arrivals were recorded over the period 8-17 February. This represented a 13.6 per cent increase on 2012, with 68% of these visitors coming from China – itself an increase of 25.5 percent. Numerous hotels reported occupancy rates of 100 per cent, with casino magnate Stanley Ho even claiming his staff had reported scuffles between customers trying to secure rooms.
A New Year of mixed fortunes
Nevertheless, the 2013 Lunar New Year wasn’t quite the success that Macau had hoped for. Although visitor numbers were as healthy as ever, gambling revenues failed to meet expectations.
Figures released by HSBC Global Research showed that gaming revenue in Macau for the first 17 days of February 2013 were 15.2 billion Patacas ($1.9 billion). This represented an increase of 12 per cent over the same period in 2012, but was nevertheless lower than expectations.
A big part of the reason behind this has been a change in the type of customer visiting Macau. With the Chinese state cracking down on corruption on the mainland, this has led to a decline in the number of VIP customers (commonly known as ‘high rollers’) visiting Macau. And while more and more middle-class Chinese are taking their place, their average spends are typically lower – VIPs typically account for around 70 per cent of Macau’s gambling revenue.
But while the rate of growth may have been a little lower than expectation, the fact Macau’s casino’s continue to see rising revenue and footfalls remains a positive for the territory.
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’][/author_image] [author_info]This article was guest written by Mike Richardson, editor of OnlineCasino.sg. An experienced journalist and blogger, Mike has written extensively about the casino trade throughout Asia and Las Vegas.[/author_info] [/author]
Image: By think4photop, published on 29 December 2012, Source FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
