Gaming operators united | Employees favor keeping smoking lounges, survey says

Macau’s six gaming operators commissioned a study on the full smoking ban from international audit firm KPMG. The survey shows that 66 percent of surveyed casino employees agree with keeping the current smoking lounges, the operators said yesterday in a joint press release.
The main gaming operators doing business in Macau, namely Galaxy, Melco Crown, MGM, SJM, Venetian Macau and Wynn Resorts, joined forces to commission the independent study on the government’s plan to implement a full smoking ban in local casinos.
The survey, they said, covered both casino employees and customers.
It showed that amongst nearly 34,000 surveyed employees from the six casino operators, 66 percent support keeping the current smoking lounges in the casinos.
81 percent of the surveyed employees work in the gaming segment, while 19 percent of respondents work within non-gaming areas.
Furthermore, 47 percent of VIP customers and 31 percent of mass-market customers shared concerns that a full smoking ban might have a detrimental impact on employment and Macau’s economy in general.
Casino operators explained that the survey showed that VIP clients would reduce their visits to Macau by 17 percent and the length of their stay by 24 percent if a full smoking ban were to be put in place.
In addition, 32 percent said that they would travel to alternative gaming destinations where smoking in casinos is still allowed.
By commissioning a survey, casino operators said that they were hoping to “gauge various stakeholders’ views on the proposed tobacco control legislation, which would ban all smoking inside casinos, including [the closing] of previously approved smoking lounges.”
The concessionaires have been voicing their concerns about the implementation of a full smoking ban after the government announced it was planning to review the current legislation and ban smoking entirely in local casinos.
Operators are hoping to be allowed to keep their current smoking lounges.
“While the operators support the Macau government’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Law, as the health and wellbeing of employees and customers is of paramount importance, they are united in their stand that smoking lounges for patrons should be maintained,” the operators said in a press release.
They added that since the smoking ban on mass gaming floors was implemented back in October 2014, informal feedback on smoking lounges from employees and customers has been mostly positive. Therefore, they feel that these opinions “should be independently measured and documented.”
Consequently, “the operators collectively agreed to share these findings with the community so that all concerned parties are able to recognize that there is strong support to retain well-constructed smoking lounges and that a full smoking ban could have a negative impact on Macau’s wider economy.”
The gaming operators did not disclose the name of the international professional services company conducting the study. But a source with knowledge on the matter told the Times that it was conducted by KPMG, one of the largest professional services firms in the world, providing audit, tax and advisory services.
The Health Bureau announced in January that it intends to implement a full smoking ban in casinos. This means smoking would be prohibited not only on mass gaming floors, but also within VIP rooms, where gamblers are currently still allowed to smoke. Under this ban, the current smoking lounges would be forced to close.