Macau, which is known as the Las Vegas of China, is the only place under Chinese rule where gambling is allowed. The Chinese government is therefore very involved in the policy and is tightening it up to all expectations. Today, plans have been released in which a proposal is made to shorten the casino licenses from 20 to 10 years.
It was until 2002 that casino magnate Stanley Ho had captured himself a monopoly in Macau. This changed in 2002 when the government opened the market to foreign casinos. then casinos such as the Wynn and the MGM obtained casino licenses for 20 years. These will expire in June this year and must be renewed. Now it is expected that the license will now be issued for 10 years.
More traffic than Las Vegas
Macau, which was formerly a Portuguese colony and was also once owned by New Zealand, also wants to increase the percentage of domestic casinos from 10% to 15%. At the moment there are 41 casinos that before the corona pandemic together generated more revenue than the 75 casinos that Las Vegas is rich.
However, after the COVID pandemic, most of the turnover evaporated. This is because from the mainland of China there are no more tourists who come to take a chance. This is due to the corona policy of the Chinese government under president Xi Jinping. As a result, Chinese people can no longer travel freely as they used to be able to. As a result, sales fell from 24 billion to 7.5 billion in 2020. In 2021, the casinos in Macau managed to recover slightly by posting a turnover of 10.8 billion.
Gambling revenues are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels next year. This has to do with the fact that the flow of travelers from Hong Kong is expected to grow again quickly. It is also expected to ease free travel from mainland China.
