Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | May 2012 6 Editorial Inside Asian Gaming is published by Must Read Publications Ltd 8J Ed. Comercial Si Toi 619 Avenida da Praia Grande Macau Tel: (853) 2832 9980 For subscription enquiries, please email subs@asgam.com For advertising enquiries, please email ads@asgam.com or call: (853) 6680 9419 www.asgam.com Inside Asian Gaming is an official media partner of: http://www.gamingstandards.com Publisher Kareem Jalal Director João Costeira Varela Editor James Rutherford Operations Manager Jessica Lai Contributors Desmond Lam, Steve Karoul I. Nelson Rose, Todd Haushalter Sudhir Kale, Jack Regan William R. Eadington, Richard Meyer Graphic Designer Brenda Chao Photography Ike, Alice Kok, James Leong, Wong Kei Cheong James Rutherford We crave your feedback. Please email your comments to James@asgam.com A New Dynamic Thinking about this movable feast called G2E Asia, the enormous range of products and technologies that will be on display, the wealth of creative and innovative thinking it represents, most of it centered on or around slot machines, one can’t help but marvel at how Macau is changing. One thing the post-monopoly era boom is making abundantly clear is that contrary to long- held belief the Chinese will play machine games; moreover, they’ll play them avidly, smartly, with the same discerning eye for value they customarily bring to the pit; and increasingly they’re playing them for fun. This latter observation, which to aWesterner would seemhardlyworth themention, touches on something rather more interesting when you’re talking about the Chinese, for whom the notion of luck or chance comes slathered with layers of existential significance. In the industry we hear all the time about how gambling in Chinese society is bound up by tradition, with elements of divination and metaphors for war and self-fulfilling ideas about fortitude, personal courage, business acumen and social standing. For the serious player, and most of them are, it’s an enterprise, not a pastime. For another thing, China’s a big country, and getting to Macau isn’t easy unless you live close in. Even then you’re limited by visa restrictions as to how often you can come. So it’s not really relevant, is it, the idea of “having a go,” as an Aussie or Brit would think of it, or approaching it the way many Americans approach their one-armed bandits, as a mindless distraction one pursues in isolation, a cheap way to zone out and assassinate some time in a safe, clean place that is convenient to drive to and drive out of and contains lots of food. There are high-repeat, low-stakes machine players among the locals. They frequent places like the Mocha Clubs dotted around town. But the idea that a casinomight offer a different kind of experience, less purposeful, more casual, delightfully passive even, that this can exist in great quantity and variety for purchase by those of lesser means, this is something entirely new for many Chinese, particularly those from the Mainland. Entertainment for the masses. That’s what a slot machine is. Junket rep and asset portfolio not required. The more the Chinese become exposed to this on an industrial scale, the more it’s changing the things they associate with the Macau experience. If you look around, especially on Cotai, you can see how this is changing Macau itself. One of the biggest challenges this presents is a marketing one. Unlike the VIP baccarat segment, serviced as it is by a vast and intricate network of junket operators, promoters, hosts and credit facilitators who ensure the private rooms are amply populated with wealthy, cashed-up players, the mass segment has no legal way to communicate its substantial gambling offer directly to Mainland Chinese, where the bulk of its existing and potential players live. You can’t reach them until they arrive. It’s a big problem, one the industry has tackled by making the resorts themselves the single most important tool in the marketing arsenal. Billions are being invested as the competition for the “wow” factor keeps getting more intense. But to keep up, the city needs to be able to move ever larger numbers of visitors efficiently over very short stretches of time (a day or less on average) to the places they want to go and the games they most want to play. This is being addressed on a number of fronts: Ferry service to the Pac On temporary terminal on Taipa is being expanded with the recent approval of three new carriers to operate routes. Work is under way to increase the number of berths at the terminal to 19 (there are three currently), which will provide capacity for up to 15 million passengers a year, as opposed to 6 million now. This is seen as benefiting the new mega- resorts on Cotai especially. But with 7,000 additional sailings expected to result, and 1 million or more additional visitors brought through the terminal a year, the entire industry stands to gain. The 19-year-old main terminal on the peninsula, at the Outer Harbor, which accounts for 25% of total visitation to the city, is being renovated as well. Improvements include the replacement of existing retail space with travel agencies and a currency exchange. Five additional ticket counters are being added, along with a larger baggage transport system for airport passengers. This work is expected to be completed by the end of next year. In the meantime, 200 new taxi licenses have been put up for bid. And work is progressing also on one of the most ambitious transportation projects ever undertaken in the region, the Pearl River Delta Bridge connecting Macau, Zhuhai and Hong Kong. A similarly ambitious light rail system, the first for Macau, is in the works as well. It will connect the Border Gate at the north of the city to the resorts down on Cotai and points in between. It’s an interesting dynamic under way—a new player for a new Macau, and vice versa. See you at the show.