This year’s Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia, which took place between May 16 and 18, was “the biggest, with the most attendees and the most exhibitors,” reflecting an “all-time high interest” in the industry, says the president and CEO of the American Gaming Association, Geoff Freeman.
Macau posted its 23rd consecutive monthly decline in revenue in April, with gross gaming revenue dropping 9.5 percent year-on-year to 17.3 billion patacas in April, according to figures from Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
Considering the decrease was less than analysts had expected, Mr Freeman believes there is a general sense of optimism in the air.
“You listen to the narrative in the media sometimes and they’ll make you think that the Macau market is shrinking and people are losing interest, but I can tell you from our industry’s perspective, there’s never been more interest,” he highlights. “The industry is here for the long-haul. It is here because it sees extraordinary potential in this market. G2E Asia demonstrates that and, all things considered, the industry is very optimistic.”
Looking at the figures, Freeman says the “revenues have stabilised,” with the first quarter being “strong”. “The industry truly believes the worst is behind us; this is a growth market and every growth market has stumbles along the way. You wouldn’t make multi-billion dollar investments if you weren’t here for the long haul,” he says.
Operators in the territory do claim Macau’s gaming market has changed however.
“What’s different is we have to fight harder now, it’s a more competitive market,” notes Freeman, adding: “Those first few years were easy, the numbers were huge and people just came in; now you’ve got to fight for it.”
Despite the declining revenues, Mr Freeman says American operators have made a “long-term commitment” and are “optimistic” about what they’ll be able to do for the years ahead.
He believes the excitement lies in what’s happening in Cotai, with Wynn Palace, Parisian and MGM Cotai all scheduled to open over the next 12 months.
“This market is changing so fast, it’s so exciting. I simply warn people not to draw too many short-term conclusions. These are long-term plays, these are long-term investments made by very smart companies and there’s tremendous optimism about the ability to tap into what is still a largely untapped Chinese market, as well travellers around Asia.”
– Changes in the market –
This year’s G2E Asia Gaming reflected such changes in the market, showing new products. For instance, there were robot roulette dealers, animated playing cards and even a gaming table that shakes its own dice.
“The product you see on the floor at G2E Asia is more thoughtful, is more refined for the Asian market.”
And the same thing applies to the conferences that were held.
“When you look at the conferences, indeed education is changing,” Freeman observes, adding: “It’s harder now and the conferences help to focus on the latest marketing techniques, the latest data analytics, the trends, where the customers are coming from and how you target them”.
Mr Freeman says Macau now seems to be more targeting the mass market rather than the VIP one.
“Certainly there has been that shift to mass and premium mass. The industry is well-prepared to serve that market whether it be through table games, slot machines or the non-gaming amenities that are being built out to appeal to the mass market,” he says.
As the focus shifts towards the mass market, Mr Freeman believes Macau is now investing tremendously in retail, food and beverage, and entertainment, doing in a short number of years what took Las Vegas decades to do.
Even though the comparison with Las Vegas is almost inevitable, Mr Freeman believes “each market is unique”. Still, one lesson Macau may take from Las Vegas is about infrastructure and the ease of access to the market.
“We can’t get the bridge soon enough, we can’t improve the processes for visitors to come here fast enough,” he says, claiming “travellers tend to follow the path of least resistance”. The dependence on Mainland China’s market is not the issue. “Issues here have to do with ease of access, infrastructure and further refining the product to appeal to the mass market”.
But the interest in Macau continues to exist. “Optimism is really the name of the game for the operators that are here.”
