Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming MAY 2015 38 Drawing a New Crowd As Macau undergoes a metamorphosis, the upcoming wave of Cotai resorts could potentially face a heretofore unimagined challenge—getting Chinese visitors interested in checking out the casino floor. That’s where the attention-grabbing products of SEGA SAMMY CREATION could serve a critical purpose W hat a difference a year makes. Macau’s casino revenue, on track to another hefty decline this month after a 39% year-on-year plunge in April, was still growing at the time of G2E Asia last May. Although the VIP sector had already started to falter under Beijing’s corruption crackdown, mass- market revenue seemed unassailable twelve months ago, continuing an unbroken run of heady growth since 2011. It didn’t seem likely then that mass revenue growth would even dip significantly below 30%, much less give way to double-digit contractions. Underlying the newfound weakness in Macau’s mass market is a crackdown in illicit fund flows out of mainland China using state-backed UnionPay debit cards and a total smoking ban that came into effect on all main-floor casino areas from October. There’s more to it, however. The tastes of China’s swelling ranks of middle class consumers—a group that barely existed at the turn of the millennium—are evolving at an astounding pace. Last year, high-spending Chinese tourists made 107 million visits overseas. The more they travel, the more sophisticated they’re becoming in deciding where to go next, and Macau apparently isn’t living up to all their new expectations. In particular, China’s rising young generation of consumers—those born after the mid-80s in the era of economic reform and the country’s opening up to the world—are looking for more exotic locales and high-quality experiences, and it’s doubtful they’ll be as keen on old-style gambling as the generation they’re going to supplant. The upcoming wave of resorts in Macau’s Cotai district promise to be among the most spectacular ever seen, replete with extensive world-class leisure offerings that should reignite interest among discerning Chinese travelers and, if Las Vegas is any guide, help elevate Macau into a regional entertainment hub. Feature “When the new generation of tourists comes to Macau, a lot of them might just walk straight through the casino floor. But our eye-catching machine might prompt them to stop to check it out, maybe give it a try. In that sense I think we’re very different from what’s out there.” Takashi Maekawa | vice president of SEGA SAMMY CREATION’s Business Management & Development Department Takashi Maekawa, vice president of SEGA SAMMY CREATION ’s Business Management & Development Department