Gaming | Gov’t expects 2016 GGR to be around MOP200b

The latest gaming revenue figures are “in line with the Government’s expectation for the gaming industry’s performance in 2016,” said the Government Information Bureau (GCS) in a statement.
Authorities forecast 2016 gross gaming revenues to be around MOP200 billion, with a monthly average of about MOP16.6 billion.
The region’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) in June amounted to MOP15.88 billion, representing a year-on-year decrease of 8.5 percent.
In the first half of 2016, gaming revenue totaled MOP107.79 billion, an 11.4 percent fall from the corresponding period in 2015.
GCS said that Macau’s GGR in the first six months of 2016 represented 53.9 percent of what the government had forecast for the whole year, amounting to a monthly average of approximately MOP17.97 billion.
“The government expected – based on conditions in the international and regional economy – that the year-on-year decline would narrow, despite gaming revenue growth in the second half of 2016 would remain in negative territory,”  GCS stated.
The organization also claims that efforts to promote “diversification in the city’s gaming industry” have paid off: “In the first half of 2016, revenue from casinos’ mass-­market segment contributed 53.1 percent of overall gaming revenue, an increase of 10 percentage points compared to the first six months of 2015. In the first half of 2016, VIP revenue recorded a 17.3 percent decline, while revenue from mass-­market operations fell 3.6 percent judged year-­on-year.”
GCS added that two new resorts – The Parisian and Wynn Palace – are likely to open in the second half of this year, and are expected to “enhance the city’s attractiveness to tourists, and bring more of them to the city.”

government studying impact on local employment

Given the adjustment period of Macau’s gaming industry, the government has pledged to “pay even closer attention than [before] to any possible negative impacts for the city’s economy and employment opportunities.” The government said more in-job training opportunities will be offered to local employees “in order to help them improve their upward mobility in career terms, and their horizontal mobility within their chosen jobs.”