New casino concessions but less gaming: can Macau reinvent itself?
- The Macau government earlier this year announced that it would grant six new casino licences, but experts say it will not be business as usual
- As Beijing pushes to clean up the gaming sector and diversify the city’s economy, observers say Macau is left with no option but to transform the casino industry and tap into regional opportunities
The contrast between the “Fantan” stalls – a Chinese game similar to roulette – which in previous centuries thrived in the city, and the 42 dazzling casinos that sprang up in the past two decades could not be greater. These opulent buildings decorated with flowery carpets, marble floors, ostentatious chandeliers, and pristine gambling tables have brought billions to a city that was once a sleepy fishing village.
But its overreliance on casinos is more than ever being put into question, and Beijing wants to see major changes taking place.
As Macau gears up to launch a public tender for six gaming licences, observers say that the former Portuguese colony is now left with no option but to forge a new identity for itself – the billion-dollar question is how.
“There was tremendous growth until 2019 and, let’s be honest, it is probably about time to control the market. Macau will have to change and be something else beyond gaming,” said Pedro Cortés, a Macau-based leading lawyer who is an expert on gaming law.
“The overreliance on gaming is an old problem,” he noted. “I think the government wants to reduce its importance and eventually abolish it. At least, the weight of gaming will have to diminish. In fact, if Macau could, it would have no gaming at all.”
The meteoric rise of the special administrative region as the world’s largest gambling hub hasn’t gone unnoticed. Thousands of headlines have been written about the city, which has been dubbed the “Las Vegas of Asia”.
