Media reports from Macau suggest that gaming revenues rose 31% year-on-year in 2008 to a record US$13.7 million. The official figures from the DICJ, Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, for the fourth quarter are not due for release before 16 January but statistics for 2007 show a 45.7% growth in revenue over 2006 figures. Last year Stanley Ho’s gaming company SJM remained the market leader with Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts in second and third place.

Despite the 31% increase over the year, gaming revenue generated in Macau last month was down 7% on December 2007 to around US$962 million. In the third quarter of 2008 Venetian Macau S.A. opened the 31st casino in Macau, bringing the total number of gaming tables to 4,312 and of slot machines to 12,835, down from 4,375 and 13,267 respectively in 2007.

In an article published yesterday BBC News highlighted the problems gaming has brought to the former Portuguese colony, including corruption, traffic jams and social problems. Local residents have long expressed dissatisfaction with rocketing property prices and casino wages that mean most workers prefer to work in the gaming industry and many students opt out of university.

The recent credit crisis means that construction on a number of projects has been halted. Las Vegas Sands has stopped several casino projects and five new hotels. This, according to some analysts, may be a good thing over the long term, allowing infrastructure to catch up and supply and demand to achieve a better balance. (E-01.06.09)

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