Retendering21-22

 may25 Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Chairman and CEO Robert Goldstein has bemoaned the lingering impact of the US-China trade war, as well as increased domestic and regional competition and the rise of online gambling across Asia for sustained flatness in the Macau market. Goldstein also expressed a desire to improve the performance of his company’s Macau subsidiary, Sands China, which he said had not lived up to recent expectations  not lived up to recent expectations despite those expectations being dampened due to a raft of substantial renovation projects that have limited its hotel room supply. The long-time LVS executive was speaking at Bernstein’s 41st Annual Strategic Decisions Conference where he observed that one of the main challenges facing the Macau land-based gaming market in 2025 was falling spend per customer – a trend he attributed to a series of macro factors. “Spend is different than it used to be,” Goldstein said. “Visitation used to be equivalent to the spend but ...

 may25 T he  non-gaming investment plans for 2023 by the city’s six gaming concessionaires generated over MOP30 billion in gross production value for Macau’s economy, according to Secretary for Economy and Finance Anton Tai Kin Ip. In a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday, lawmaker Ron Lam presented an oral inquiry urging the government to strengthen supervision of non-gaming investment plans by gaming concessionaires and implement robust employee protection measures for their workforce. In response, the Secretary emphasized that the government has consistently maintained clear mechanisms for monitoring both the pre-implementation and post-implementation phases. “The [gaming concession] contract terms also require approved companies to submit detailed annual project implementation reports to the government, which must include information on the specific implementation status, amounts invested, timelines, and outcomes,” he said. While acknowledging that t...

jul25 The unexpected resurgence of Macau gaming revenues over the past two months, which culminated in  June GGR smashing consensus at 19% year-on-year growth , appears to have been supported by the performance of the high-end gaming segments, according to investment bank JP Morgan. Analysts said in a Tuesday note that their on-the-ground checks indicate direct VIP and ultra-premium mass performed particularly well throughout the month, enough to drive June revenues back to 88% of pre-COVID levels – by far the highest recovery rate since the pandemic. The June result also saw combined Q2 GGR come in 8% higher year-on-year and 6% higher sequentially at MOP$61 billion on the back of a similarly impressive May. So, what drove the high-end gaming performance? According to JP Morgan’s DS Kim and Selina Li, key factors appear to have been the success of marquee concerts and events – specifically Jacky Cheung’s ongoing residency series at Galaxy Arena and three concerts by G-Dragon at the...

 may25 Baccarat side bets now contribute between 45% and 50% of Macau’s baccarat gaming revenues, representing a generational shift in player preferences thanks to the deployment of smart gaming table technology. Stakeholders told  IAG  that such side bets previously comprised only a fraction of revenues and less than 1% of turnover. Speaking at the G2E Asia conference at The Venetian Macao on Thursday, Clayton Peister, the Managing Director of analytics firm Differential Labs, attributed the change to the transformational nature of the data generated by smart tables which has allowed operators to better understand side bets and therefore experiment with table game layouts. “These transactional level results help us understand the player in a much more effective way so we can program what we’re offering,” he said. “An example is side bets which now account for 5% of turnover but 45% to 50% of revenue, which is quite high. “Understanding those risk preferences, understandi...

may25 Persistence key to shifting Macau’s image, say gaming ops By   Tony Lai As Macau accelerates efforts to diversify its economy and shed its long-standing image as a casino hub, industry leaders say the transformation will require unwavering persistence and creative mindset. That was the message from executives overseeing art and cultural policies at several local gaming operators during a panel discussion at the ArtBiz Asia forum in Macau on Friday. “Every city is associated with a label—whether we like it or not,” said Helen Wu, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at l Melco Resorts & Entertainment. She pointed to Shanghai as an example: widely recognised as a financial centre, the city has spent years cultivating its art and cultural identity in an effort to broaden its global image. Macau, she noted, is on a similar path. “It takes persistence. You have to keep going, and gradually the image of the city will be built up,” she said. “It’s really about persi...