Expert highlights major obstacles to Macau's post-pandemic gaming recovery

Macau is facing significant hurdles in its quest to return to its pre-pandemic prosperity, according to a gaming scholar.

In a recent report, Wang Changbin, head of the Centre for Gaming and Tourism Studies at Macau Polytechnic University, highlighted the slow pace of recovery in Macau's gaming industry compared to other major gaming hubs like Las Vegas and Southeast Asia, Macau Business reported.

While Las Vegas saw a swift rebound in casino revenue, rising from a pandemic low of under $4 billion in 2020 to over $7 billion in 2021 and setting new records with $8.3 billion in 2022 and $8.9 billion in 2023, Macau's recovery has been more sluggish.

Similarly, Singapore's gaming revenue, which had fluctuated between $4.2 billion and $4.8 billion pre-pandemic, dropped to $2 billion during Covid but is projected to nearly reach $4 billion in 2023. The Philippines also saw a strong recovery, moving from a pre-pandemic high of $4.5 billion in 2019 to $2.8 billion during the pandemic, and surpassing pre-pandemic levels with $5.1 billion in 2022, the report said.

In contrast, Macau generated $23.78 billion between 2020 and 2022, a level comparable to its 2010 performance. In 2023, Macau's casino revenue totaled MOP183 billion ($23.24 billion), indicating a post-Covid recovery but still trailing behind its competitors.

“Macau seems to be doing well in the post-Covid era, but it faces some difficulties on its way back to the post-Covid peak. This is mainly due to the fact that the factors that drove the rapid growth of Macau’s gaming sector are disappearing,” Wang wrote, as per the report.

Several factors are contributing to Macau's slower recovery. These include reduced willingness to travel due to a complicated international atmosphere, natural disasters, and conflicts. Additionally, there is an increasing negative attitude towards gambling in China, exacerbated by casinos near the country's borders targeting Chinese gamblers.

The attractiveness of existing casinos is also waning without new developments, and the central government's crackdown on promoting gambling to high-rollers in mainland China further complicates the situation.

“Although gaming junkets are proactively cultivating customer sources elsewhere, it will take time to pay off. As some Southeast Asian countries are actively developing gaming, there is likely to be competition for customers from these countries,” he wrote.

Wang suggests that linking gaming with sports development could help address these challenges, noting that sports gaming in Macau has yet to reach its full potential. “The introduction of sports betting in casinos has the potential to attract sports fans from all over the world,” he pointed out.