Macau Casinos Losing Their Charm As Ghost Tables Become More Evident

Macau followed a simple strategy of “build expensive casinos and people will flock” successfully for a number of years and attracted all of the major casino players in the industry.

The Cotai strip is home to some of the biggest casino complexes in the world and specializes in offering VIP gamblers a number of high-stake games.

Macau overtook Las Vegas over 5 years ago and has comfortably established itself as the most popular gambling hub in the world earning more than seven times the revenue of Las Vegas.

Macau casinos started losing customers and revenue in 2014 after the Chinese government decided to crackdown on corruption and focused on Macau where VIP gamblers splurge large sums of money playing high-stake games.

Macau casinos did not pay much attention to the crackdown as they believed that it would last for a couple of months and then return to normal. During this period, Macau’s VIP customers decided that it was better for them to stay away from the casinos instead of drawing the attention of the Chinese authorities. Macau casinos lost a significant share of revenue and crackdown did not stop but actually gained momentum.

The Chinese government has confirmed that the crackdown on corruption will intensify in 2015 and has asked the Macau government to stop depending on casino revenue and instead develop another plan that will encourage tourism and education in Macau.

Reports suggest that Macau casinos combined lost over $100 billion in 2014 and will most likely lose even more revenue in 2015. These billion dollar casinos appear to have a ghost like appearance as the tables and chairs are empty and casino employees have relatively nothing to do.

Macau’s VIP customers have grown tired of the corruption crackdown and other restrictions such as the new smoking ban and prefer to take their business to neighbouring countries like Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines.

There are a number of casinos currently under construction on The Cotai strip and gambling companies have invested billions to construction these Casinos. The slump in Macau’s casino industry and the new stance adopted by the Chinese government has upset a number of these gambling providers.

Rob Goldstein, the Las Vegas Sands President said

We’re charged with running our business more efficiently, examining all layers of cost…But this has been a sea change, as you know, in a very short period of time