Today’s big story is pretty obvious: The 19% year-over-year revenue growth of Macao, which posted $45 billion in gross gaming dollars. (2012’s increase was similarly dramatic.) Analysts offer a somewhat cloudy picture for next year. No, there will be no megaresort openings but there will be improved infrastructure to bring more punters and their families to the world’s gambling capitol. Macao finished out the year strongly, with Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli‘s 13% projected increase far exceeded. Macanese casinos grew revenue by 20% after the third quarter and 24% in the fourth. And don’t forget Macao’s single-month high last October. This bodes well for all megaresorts being built on the Cotai Strip, including MGM Cotai ($2.6 billion), Sands Parisian ($2.7 billion) and Wynn Paradise ($4
billion), plus Melco Crown Entertainment‘s Studio City. And, to hear Jim Murren and others tell it, Macao is only beginning to tap the Chinese middle-class market. They would know. Casino operators — MGM including — are beginning to throw caution to the winds and hanker after development opportunities on casino-free Hengqin Island. “Of … visitors, we would assume that roughly 70 percent would be adults and therefore could be targeted as potential gaming visitors to Macau,” writes Union Gaming Group‘s Grant Govertsen.
On the other hand, casino developers have to palliate a Macao government that wants to see 80% of square footage devoted to non-casino attractions, lest the state become too gambling-dependent. That will mean a lot of swanky attractions — and a fair number of loss-leaders, to be sure. Steve Wynn‘s renovation of Wynn Macau hotel rooms caused him briefly to lose VIP business, the lifeblood of his Chinese operations. “As Wynn adds more hotel rooms to attract tourists from China’s mainland, it has also positioned itself as a premium brand resort with sophisticated style,” writes Seeking Alpha, but the opening of Wynn Paradise is still 27 long months away.
