Asia gaming operators navigate shifting demand, regulation and competition

Gregory Hawkins, Kenneth Feng and Walter Power

Casino operators across Asia are facing a more fragmented growth landscape, as shifts in customer behavior, regulatory priorities, and infrastructure reshape the region’s gaming markets. Speaking at the G2E Asia Gaming Expo on Tuesday, Kenneth Feng, chief executive of MGM China, said the industry’s expansion remains intact but is becoming more complex and uneven, with success increasingly tied to customer insight, innovation, and execution.

Macau’s market has moved decisively away from its reliance on VIP junket play toward a premium mass segment, forcing operators to recalibrate their strategies.

“The Macau market is evolving; it’s changing,” Feng said. “It’s more of a mass market, particularly a premium mass market.”

This shift, as detailed by Feng, has heightened the importance of granular customer understanding.

“Number one is, of course, a deep understanding of customers […] we have to know them well,” Feng said. “They (customers) are changing very frequently. They are changing their taste, what they like.”

Feng outlined that operators like MGM are increasingly relying on real-time data and direct engagement to respond to these changes on Macau’s floor.

“What we are doing […] is customer-centric,” Feng said. “We talk to them, we understand them […] we can react quickly […] We analyze their data […] and also, we understand the culture here,” he added. “It’s an ecosystem.”

At the same time, Macau’s operators are under pressure to deliver on government mandates to diversify beyond gaming, even as returns remain uneven.

“If we continue to do our non-gaming efforts, all six of us, meanwhile, in order to do non-gaming efforts, of course, we need to be more profitable […] you have to do things together. It’s not like you do this, you do that […] it’s becoming like a balancing act,” Feng said.

“I have to say, some are effective, some are not that effective,” he added. “But at least the goal is there.”

Elsewhere in the region, competition is intensifying as markets mature.

In the Philippines, Gregory Hawkins, president and chief operating officer of Solaire, said brand positioning and sustained capital investment have been central to Solaire’s growth.

“The power of the brand […] and the type of investment into that brand […] underpin the earnings growth of the group over the past decade,” he said. “You must keep thinking of the most innovative ways […] to stay ahead of an increasingly competitive pack,” he added.

Vietnam, by contrast, is focused on unlocking demand through infrastructure and regulatory change, Walter Power, president of The Grand Ho Tram, said, pointing to new transport links as a potential catalyst for growth.

“There’s a new international airport […] only 40 minutes away from our property,” Power said, adding that a new highway will shorten travel times from Ho Chi Minh City, helping shift the resort toward a more destination-driven model.

Power highlighted that Vietnam is also experimenting with policy liberalization, including a pilot allowing local citizens to enter casinos. “It was quite an interesting phenomenon,” he said, noting operational changes such as switching gaming currency from US dollars to Vietnamese dong.

“With an exchange rate of 27,000 to 1, the number of zeros adds additional challenges when converting those slot machines to VND,” he said, adding that cage cash is denominated in USD at his property.

On differing nationalities at The Grand Ho Tram property, player behavior shows broad similarities, he added. “You have multiple languages […] and trying to balance […] can be challenging.”

“There are over 300,000 expats in Ho Chi Minh City. So not only are we now catering to the Vietnamese market, but we’ve historically gone after the Korean market, […] the Chinese market, the Italian market, and the American market in Ho Chi Minh City.”

Moreover, across markets, regulatory alignment — particularly with Beijing — remains a defining constraint.

Feng emphasized the importance of compliance following the dismantling of the junket system. “We should follow the law […] and don’t touch the things that we shouldn’t touch,” he said, adding that China’s regulatory framework has become more mature.

Marketing to mainland Chinese customers, a critical segment, also requires caution.

Hawkins said the Philippines is stepping up efforts to attract Chinese visitors, supported by visa changes. “The China inbound market is one that’s certainly increasingly in focus,” he said. However, “there’s opportunity there, but you need to ensure you’re doing it in the correct way.”

Operationally, all three executives emphasized that performance is driven by a mix of factors rather than any single lever.

“It’s not purely a reinvestment thing at all,” Feng said. “The overall performance really depends on your products, your services, and your innovation.”

Meanwhile, Power highlighted the trade-offs inherent in game design, particularly with higher-margin features such as side bets.

“You can increase one element, but you can reduce another element at the same time,” he said.

“Side bets obviously have a higher house advantage, but it slows the game down. So, what’s the trade-off between increased house advantage? […] there has to be a balance.”

Ultimately, The Grand Ho Tram CEO stated financial outcomes remain the clearest benchmark.

“There’s only one thing you can deposit to the bank, and that’s cash. So the objective is to maximize the cash that you generate.”