Inside Asian Gaming

November 2008 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 13 Shut That Door Visa restrictions — be careful what you ask for; you may get it I n all the comments and analysis about the travel restrictions imposed by China on citizens visiting Macau, one topic that’s not often discussed is what the Macau government thinks about the situation. At first glance, common sense suggests Macau would be against travel curbs. People from Mainland China made up 57% of the 2.31 million visitors to Macau during September, according to the territory’s Statistics and Census Service (DSEC). The others were from Hong Kong (28.5%), Southeast Asia (4.9%) and the rest of the world, including Europe and Oceania (9.6%). Macau no longer publishes figures on how many arrivals from the Mainland are residents of the neighbouring Chinese province of Guangdong, but it’s likely to be themajority (around80%bymost estimates). Macau has become the de facto playground for Guangdongers. With more than half of Macau’s visitors originating from China, any Macau politician or business leader who actively campaigned for or at least acquiesced to a political decision to reduce the flow from this vibrant feeder market would risk being taken away by men in white coats. Yet such a tightening of the supply side of the market does appear to have been supported by Macau’s political leadership.It would be easy simply to dismiss this as Macau doing as it was told by ‘Our Friends in the North,’as Beijing is sometimes euphemistically described. As we discuss later, there may be more to it than that. Alternative markets Of course, China is not the only customer for Macau’s casino tables. There are still plenty of wealthy Hong Kong residents with unfettered access to Macau’s VIP gaming rooms. Recently, Macau has also One country, two flags