Olympics blamed for decreased casino turnover
Casino gaming received a blow in August as new figures suggested that the Beijing Olympics were the cause of reduced casino gaming revenues in the Chinese region of Macau.
The area, well-known for its connections to the gaming and casino industry, saw a 10 per cent drop in revenue, according to the Macau Gaming Inspection and Co-ordination Bureau. Analysts attributed the drop in casino revenues to the slowing economic market and the disruption caused in the industry by the Beijing Olympic Games.
Analysts commented that the Beijing Games saw gamers forgoing their regular visits to the casino for the spectacle of the Olympics. The opening ceremony of the games attracted an estimated 842million viewers in China.
It is only the second time in five years that the area has not recorded a growth in revenue from its casino industry, which is home to a number of world-renowned casinos, including the Venetian Macau and the MGM-owned Grand Macau, each offering an array of slots, roulette, poker and blackjack games.
The Venetian casino, which opened last year, is Asia’s biggest building. It cost $2.4billion to build and hosts over 800 gaming tables and 34,000 slot machines.
Analysts have also suggested that factors other than the Olympics may have been responsible for the decline in casino revenue.
Pressure from Beijing has led to a halt in the building of new casinos, and Macau has declared it will not be issuing any new casino licenses in the foreseeable future. It has also been suggested that the global credit crisis has led to companies being unable to borrow funds for new construction and unwilling to speculate on new casino projects in the current economic climate.