Casinos tend to attract less the longer they operate

A scholar claims that Macau risks losing appeal due to its dependence on the gaming industry.  According to a survey cited by professor Zeng Zhonglu from Macao Polytechnic Institute (IPM)’s Gaming, Teaching and Research Centre, the number of HK and Macau gamblers during the past decade has diminished.
“This shows that residents and visitors may be very interested in gambling at the beginning, but as time goes longer, they switched from ‘excited’ to ‘fatigue’ [toward gaming].”
He was speaking from the sidelines of the first International Conference on Gaming, Leisure and Entertainment 2014, which is taking place at IPM. Organized by IPM, the event will last for three days and feature a series of speeches related to new technologies, public policies and other issues surrounding gaming, leisure and entertainment. Speakers at the Conference include scholars from the U.S., mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
Dr Zeng said that in the long term, if Macau only relies on its gaming industry to entice visitors, the attraction of casinos would fall. “The trend also turned true on some casinos abroad, such as the Atlantic City,” he added. Atlantic City is a city in the northeast of the U.S. where gaming operators have recently been forced to shut down casinos.
“The longer casinos operate in the area, their attraction to people around will decrease,” he said.
Stressing that location has an essential influence upon the success of casinos because people like to visit gaming venues that are close by, Zeng raised concern over the possibility of launching casinos on the mainland.  “If gambling is allowed on the mainland in the future, it will be more convenient for mainland visitors to gamble there. Therefore, they may change their gaming habits. Macau has to be creative, to keep something for a rainy day and consider diversification.” GY