Inside Asian Gaming

IAG OCT 2022年10月 亞博匯 46 COLUMNISTS T he COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting the integrated resort (IR) industry in the Asia Pacific region (and globally) in a profound manner. Whereas many other gaming markets in the region are still suppressed by impacts of the pandemic, the Philippines and Singapore have been leading the industry's recovery and growth in a post- COVID era, thanks to their diversified product offerings, well-balanced market segments and forward-looking protective measures against the pandemic. Fueled by solid local market segments and gradually increasing international visitation, the Philippine gaming market has been able to achieve substantial progress, welcoming fresh properties in Clark and Cebu that are poised to become popular tourist destinations in the near future. The two renowned IRs in Singapore have followed a similar path and have prepared for the upcoming expansion stage. The dynamics in these two markets endorsed the importance of diversification in terms of product offerings, source markets and beyond, which had been emphasized by many before the pandemic and has become even more critical in a post-COVID era. One of the most remarkable ongoing changes in the Asian gaming landscape is the shift of junket-channeled VIP play to mass-oriented business (including direct in-house premiummass). While the bright side is that mass gaming indeed tends to yield higher operating margin than VIP business, there remains a challenge that often gets overlooked – infrastructure that is capable of handling the required mass visitation that can