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out24 D omestic travelers in China, including the Macau and Hong Kong SARs,are exhibiting a notable trend of reduced spending during the recent Golden Week holiday, despite the government’s various stimulus measures aimed at boosting the economy. According to data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, while the number of trips taken during the week increased by 10.2% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, overall spending rose only 7.9%. This discrepancy indicates a decline in per-trip expenditure of 2.1% from five years ago. https://macaudailytimes.com.mo/domestic-travelers-spending-less-despite-stimulus-measures.htmlhttps://macaudailytimes.com.mo/domestic-travelers-spending-less-despite-stimulus-measures.html AGOST24 Os visitantes que chegam a Macau estão a gastar cada vez mais dinheiro em produtos não-jogo, afirmou ontem o secretário para a Economia e Finanças. Segundo Lei Wai Nong, no primeiro trimestre deste ano registou-se um gasto recorde de 32,5 mil milhões de patacas em

jul24 Ricky Hoi Io Meng, deputy director of Macao Government Tourism Office, hinted in Thursday comments that changes to local casinos’ provision of free snacks and drinks on gaming floors “should not have a big impact to the visitors”. GGRAsia had previously approached the city’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, for comment on the claims of government pushback against the practice of casino operators distributing free food and drinks to patrons – as mentioned on social media several weeks ago – but had not received a reply. The free food and drink trend appeared anecdotally to have been on the rise this year. “I don’t have any comment on these kinds of new methods,” said Mr Hoi (pictured in a file photo), in comments to the television news service of local public broadcaster TDM. https://www.ggrasia.com/no-sign-casino-snack-topic-hits-tourism-says-macau-official/ jun24 A move by Macau’s concessionaires to limit the provision of free snacks to visitors m

 Jun24 Macau’s casino industry could benefit from clearer guidelines on the use of face recognition technology on gaming floors, particularly for marketing purposes. That is the opinion of Graça Saraiva (pictured, centre right), legal consultant and data protection officer for casino operator Sands china Ltd. “It would be good to have more specific and clear guidelines from the regulator in what concerns facial recognition technology at gaming tables,” Ms Saraiva said on Thursday. She was speaking during a panel session of the conference segment of the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2024 casino industry trade show in Macau. Ms Saraiva was responding to a question about the use of ‘smart’ gaming tables in the context of the Macau market, and how to take advantage of the functions offered by such types of equipment – including making use of facial recognition and artificial intelligence for business purposes – while ensuring player data protection. https://www.ggrasia.com/clarity-on-macau

 jun24 Macau International Airport only currently offers a scheduled air service to one of the 10 Chinese mainland cities recently added to China’s exit visa system for independent travellers to go to Macau or Hong Kong, known as the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS). That is according to GGRAsia’s review of Macau International Airport’s timetable, which shows a service to Qingdao, in the country’s eastern Shandong province. It is run by Macau’s legacy carrier Air Macau, which offers four round trip flights per week. But Zhuhai Airport (pictured), in the mainland’s Guangdong province city Zhuhai, next door to Macau, does serve many of the new IVS cities by domestic air link, while Hong Kong International Airport serves others, show GGRAsia’s checks. Zhuhai Airport is also now   linked to a suburban rail network   that can deliver Chinese tourists from that air hub to Macau’s doorstep. https://www.ggrasia.com/macau-new-ivs-cities-mostly-served-by-zhuhai-hk-airports/

out24 Unlicensed foreign-currency exchange (FX) for Macau gambling will be considered a criminal matter if the authorities there deem it is being done as a trade activity, regardless of whether it takes place in or outside casinos. That is according to Thursday commentary from veteran legislator Chan Chak Mo (pictured), with the latest explanation of the local government’s intention regarding a bill with provisions to criminalise gambling-related unlicensed exchange. Mr Chan heads a Macau Legislative Assembly committee tasked with scrutinising the bill. The planned legal change can cover transactions for gaming purposes done outside the city’s casino resort complexes, as long as law enforcement bodies were able to gather “sufficient evidence”. He noted at a media briefing on Thursday, that the bill was likely to have its second and final reading at a plenary session of the assembly “within this month”. The criminalisation aim of the authorities  had been announced in August , under art