19 October 2009

China wants Macau casinos to cool it

MACAU Ã¢â¬' The Chinese authorities appear to feel that MacauÃ¢â¬â¢s gaming czars have been enjoying too much of a good run.

With a nudge and a wink from Beijing, the Macau government has met with the cityÃ¢â¬â¢s six casino operators to tell them that it would review the size and growth of the industry.

On the agenda for discussions are the number of gaming tables in operation (currently 4,390), the entry age for players (currently 18, possibly moving to 21) and a ban on slot machines in residential areas (currently 13,500).

MacauÃ¢â¬â¢s gaming revenues reached record numbers in August and the boom continued in September and into October.

One cloud on the horizon is a decision by Beijing to crackdown on IVS visas available to Chinese mainland visitors.

The South China Morning Post ran a story quoting an official from the Guangdong public security department responsible for entry-exit permits.

"We did relax the policy a few months ago and Guangdong visitors were able to apply for those [individual visitation scheme visas to Macau] once a month, but from this week, you have to wait," he told the newspaper.

Destination Macau says the move to curb visitor visa applications - most likely to once every two months - is not worth panicking about.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœAnalysts have always paid far too much attention to the IVS scheme, both in the boom days and in the gloom days.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThere has been only two months out of the past 18 when mainland arrivals really plunged, and that was around this time last year, when both IVS arrivals and tour group arrivals fell sharply.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThat was before the mainland government started to stimulate the economy and the banks had not yet started their most recent lending spree.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWhat has come to pass over the past six months has been a steady increase in mainland visitors, and VIP gaming revenues in particular have been getting stronger and stronger as all that easy credit made its way in through the junkets.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe recent boom has had far more to do with the financial well-being of Macau's most important visitor source market than it has with the IVS scheme,Ã¢â¬~ Destination Macau reported.