Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING DECEMBER 2017 18 E VERY year for the last decade, Inside Asian Gaming has completed a task that is fascinating, exhilarating, intellectually stimulating and industry- defining whilst simultaneously being frustrating, infuriating, prone to creating conflict and perhaps even downright dangerous! Yes, it’s time once again for the Asian Gaming Power 50 – our industry’s definitive list of its 50 most powerful people in Asia. Decade This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Asian Gaming Power 50 – and what a fascinating decade it has been for our industry. It started with the grand opening of the Venetian Macao in 2007, giving birth to the Cotai of today. As the years rolled on Macau’s new gaming hub saw the openings of City of Dreams, Galaxy Macau, Sands Cotai Central, Studio City, Wynn Palace and The Parisian. Not to be outdone, the Philippines’ Entertainment City sprouted forth from its greenfield site, with the openings of Solaire, City of Dreams Manila and Okada. The decade also provided numerous industry developments in Korea, Vietnam, Saipan, Cambodia and across the rest of Asia. Over the decade only four people have sat atop the “BIG 50” (as it is commonly known): 2008: Dr Stanley Ho 2009: Tan Sri KT Lim 2010: Mr Sheldon Adelson 2011 and 2012: Mr Francis Lui 2013 to 2016: Mr Sheldon Adelson 2017: read on to find out! Just in the last year we’ve seen so much happen in our industry. Both Macau and Manila have blossomed more than expected but other Asian jurisdictions have remained stubbornly stagnant. We saw tragedies connected to our industry in Las Vegas and Manila and the worst typhoon in over half a century in Macau. After premature declarations of its demise, the VIP industry is back with a vengeance. Japan was a “yes”, then a Ten Years On A decade of making of the Asian Gaming Power 50 By Andrew W Scott IAG Asian Gaming Power 50 selection panel Chairman ASIAN GAMING POWER 50 2 0 1 7