Gov’t may delay decision on smoking ban

Research and brokerage firm Bernstein Research has estimated that the decision on the smoking ban will take the government longer than two months to finalize, as authorities look to buy time amid the gaming industry’s poor performance.
After last week’s meeting between the Macau Legislative Assembly’s Second Standing Committee and the six gaming concessionaires, Bernstein commented that the government will “be loath to make a decision while the gaming industry is still weak.”
Chan Chak Mok, the chairman of the committee, had indicated that it may take until June 2016 for the bill to return to the full Assembly after passing through a series of consultations and potential amendments.
While the current bill being discussed proposes a full smoking ban throughout casinos, the Macau government has, since the initial passage of the smoking bill in July, made comments suggesting that it could potentially open to allowing the retention of smoking lounges.
The six gaming operators warned the administration last week that a full smoking ban could negatively affect gaming revenues, government tax revenues, and in turn, the social welfare of Macau locals. The operators proposed retaining the smoking lounges arrangement, whereby smoking is permitted in special areas with separate and adequate ventilation.
The MSAR government conceded that smoking lounges could be an option if the gaming operators are able to scientifically prove that the lounges can effectively prevent others from being harmed by tobacco smoke.
“If a full smoking ban were implemented, it would have a negative impact on GGR [Gross Gaming Revenue], as the current partial smoking ban has had a negative impact on Mass GGR since October 2014,” Bernstein told Asia Gaming Brief.
“We believe the impact of a full smoking ban […] is already priced in the current valuation. A retention of the lounges and the smoking VIP rooms would be a positive catalyst,” the research group added. Staff reporter