Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JUN 2020年6月 亞博匯 56 TECH TALK kids in the playground, the excitement to be back and having the human interaction was amazing, all whilst practicing social distancing at that time of course. In terms of safety we also had to consider the customer facing roles of sales and service and ensuring we didn’t compromise their health and equally adhere to customer requirements and protocols. On the whole, the feedback has been incredibly positive from our staff and they have felt a great sense of pride in working for Aristocrat through the way they have been supported over these last three months. BB: Of course, many of your casino customers in the region have been closed for some months, while in Macau the casinos are open but with very little traffic. What sort of interactions have you been able to have with your customers during this time? LR: As I mentioned earlier, we have been engaging very regularly with our customers largely via phone or ZOOM meetings. The majority of our decision makers and key relationships have still been contactable and working, which has created communication opportunities. While you cannot replicate face – to – face contact, we have utilised digital communications which has led to some productive engagements. It has also enabled us to ZOOM in other stakeholders from around the world to add value and insights to our customers where a flight to that country may not have been possible. It even led in some cases to customers subscribing to ZOOM after our meeting! BB: What do you think recovery will look like for the industry in Asia? LR: This is really like looking into a crystal ball. What we know is the majority of jurisdictions around Asia will commence a relaxation of restrictions soon. The recovery is going to depend on the phased implementation per country of these relaxations. Any slip – up could see us back to full closures and restrictions like earlier in the year. BB:新冠疫情在總體而言對於Aristocrat團隊有甚麼影響？ LR: 我必須說我們的團隊實在強韌，而且整個亞洲大陸在面對如 此的破壞下亦很是強韌。其實衝擊大部分都是落在安全以及與 其他人保持聯繫之上。例如我們職員回到辦公室的第一天就像小 朋友回到遊樂場一樣，那種歸來的喜悅以及再次可以與人接觸心 情，實在十分美好，但同事當然亦有保持進社交距離。 在安全方面，我們亦需要考慮到那些面向顧客的員工，例如 銷售及服務，並且確保我們不會犧牲他們的健康，但同時亦照顧 到客戶的要求以及禮節。整體而言，從我們職員那裏得到的反饋 都是非常正面，他們感到十分驕傲可以在過去三個月於受到如此 的支援下為Aristocrat工作。 BB:當然，你有很多在地區內的賭場客戶都已經關閉了幾個月，而 在澳門的娛樂場雖然重新開放，但訪客就非常之少。到底你在這 段時間內可以與客戶們進行那種形式的互動呢？ LR: 正如我早前提到，我們一直都經常與我們客戶聯絡，大部分時 間都是通過電話或ZOOM會議。我們大部分的決策者以及主要的 關係人都依然聯絡得上，而且都在工作，這就創造了一些溝通的 機會。雖然你無法取代面對面的接觸，但我們就使用了數碼通訊， 並且造就了一些有成效的互動。我們亦能夠通過ZOOM，在現時飛 機可能無法前往的情況下，去接觸那些身處世界各地的持份者， 從而為我們的客戶創造更高的價值以及帶來一些見解。而且更有 幾次我們的客戶在與我們進行會議後，亦開始使用上ZOOM呢！ BB:你覺得為處於亞洲的博彩業而言，復甦到底是怎樣的呢？ LR: 這個問題彷彿是要我用水晶球來占卜未來一般。我們所知的 是，亞洲的大部分司法管轄區都會從五月中旬開始就放寬限制。 復甦基本上要取決於每個國家如何一步步落實放寬限制，中間出 現的任何差錯都足以讓我們回到將在今年初的那種完全的封鎖 之中。 我們大部分的市場都十分倚重訪客，因此你需要預期遊客們 將需要一段時間才會對於出遊感到安心，而且亦需要得到無縫的 簽證安排所配合，不然出遊將會受阻。 另外一個變數將會是環球需求。在亞洲有一部分博彩玩家的 收入都是從製造業來的，所以如果世界各地都出現大變卦而令需 求放緩的話，就可能會影響到復甦。雖然如此，但我亦寄望亞洲將 會在2020年下半年開始某程度上復甦，並且以一個強勁的姿態往 2021年的農曆新年衝刺。