In this regular feature in IAG to celebrate 17 years covering the Asian gaming and leisure industry, we look back at our cover story from exactly 10 years ago, “Ten years of change”, to rediscover what was making the news in April 2012!
It is now 20 years since Macau approved the first three casino concessions under its liberalization of the industry, with Sociedade de Jogos de Macao, Galaxy Casino and Wynn Resorts the original winners.
And, in April 2012, it made sense that Inside Asian Gaming should recognize the milestone by featuring the 10-year anniversary as its cover story.
From a field of over 20 bids from around the world, those initial three concessionaires would be joined by three sub-concessionaires, with IAG stating back in 2012 that this had “marked the beginning of Macau’s transformation from the sleepy, seedy gambling town it had been in colonial times – the ‘Monte Carlo of the Orient’ was the generous title afforded it – to a resort destination of worldwide significance; the ‘Las Vegas of Asia’.
“Nothing would be the same again, not Macau, not China, not the global casino industry, which could be said to be truly multinational from that day forward.”
As IAG noted at the time, liberalization saw Macau’s industry grow from 11 casinos in 2002 to 34 by 2012, with the number of table Likewise, visitor arrivals reached a record 39.4 billion in 2019 although GGR of MOP$292 billion (US$36.5 billion) was down on the all-time GGR record of MOP$361 billion (US$45.1 billion), achieved in 2013.
As we know, the numbers surrounding Macau’s casino industry have contracted significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will be fascinating to see where recovery takes us when we celebrate 30 years since liberalization in 2032!
