Macau has 35 casinos and some of the largest in the world. Tourism in Macau has been growing exponentially reaching about 50 million annual visitors, and has infrastructure projects that only tend to facilitate tourism in the province. Therefore, new casino projects are planned in the medium and long term in Asia, which will increase competition in the market in which Australian casinos operate. Jurisdictions like Cambodia, Singapore and the Philippines will compete fiercely for a share of the market of international VIP players attracting operators to their respective jurisdictions. Even a conservative country like Malaysia has its own official gambling area, Genting Highland. This has not yet mentioned various online casino Malaysia companies.
The international non-VIP tourism segment will also be affected as a result and consequence of regional competition across Asia. Statistics show that the Asian tourist spends more and are more likely to use the casinos during their stays and visits.
With Asian countries increasingly introducing more integrated casino-resorts, attracting the same or a higher level of Asian visitors to Australian casinos and the same amounts of cash inflows, will increasingly be a difficult and unlikely task.
Macau has experienced an unprecedented record of economic success since the end of its monopoly on gambling. It has created an environment where investment in gaming-driven tourism projects attracts industry leaders, while tourists, hotel guests and revenues increase significantly with the opening of new integrated resorts. Macao’s location, near a growing Chinese economy, the availability of credit and the relaxing needs of visitors, all played their part in creating this success. This success has not gone unnoticed by its neighbors. Macao is the jurisdiction that most try to imitate and overcome.
The concept of tourism based on investment projects guided by casino gambling tourism is currently part of many political agendas such as Japan, which, when realizing the growth of this strand and the success that Macau is having in Asia, have already announced which by 2020, the year in which they will organize the Olympic Games, will legalize the game in their territory. Something that has already attracted the interest of many North American and Australian investors.
Another aspect that weighs in this decision is the fact that, although until then the casinos are prohibited in Japanese territory, the Japanese are of the most influential and frequent players of sites of online casinos. This is because with the ease that has to obtain the main technological innovations namely in terms of smartphones and tablets, it became possible to play casino games like poker, roulette, blackjack and slots almost everywhere. This means a very high potential profit in taxes not to mention the tourist benefits that a country that has practically no natural resources certainly sees with good eyes.
So regardless of the reason, the truth is that Asia is already a destination sought by tourists with various goals. Just to get to know countries and traditional cultures, to vacation in magnificent beaches and now with the possibility of also accessing niche tourism as gaming tourism which is increasingly sponsored by major companies of the industry and supported by governments.
