Inside Asian Gaming

IAG OCT 2022年10月 亞博匯 50 potential is poised to attract high-level enthusiasm from prospective IR developers and operators in the near future. Last but not least, the region’s traditional industry hub, Macau, has been strangled for more than two years by strict pandemic control measures and other factors. While the aforementioned challenges and critical components are all applicable to Macau, it is worth noting that some encouraging signs have recently surfaced, such as the lifting of travel bans on travelers from over 40 countries for the first time since theonsetofthepandemicin2020. Further curbing of restrictions is expected and is likely to propel meaningful recovery of the market. Although considerable uncertainty remains, the pent- up demand (for a long while) from a tremendous marketable base in mainland China just cannot go overlooked. On balance, we believe that the Asia Pacific gaming markets will continue to evolve in a post- COVID era, with diversification and solutions to other potential challenges remaining critical in the years to come. How the IRs respond to such challenges will contribute to maintaining long- term growth of the industry, to capitalizing on the booming and increasingly wealthy middle class, and to better stimulating tourism and related economic benefits in the region and on a global basis. COLUMNISTS 在不久的將來激發出更多潛在IR發展商 及營運商的高度熱情。 最後，區域內的行業龍頭澳門，因 應嚴格的疫情防控措施及其他因素，已 經在過去兩年間停滯不前。 儘管上述挑戰和關鍵因素都適用於 澳門，但值得注意的是，近期開始出現 一些令人鼓舞的跡象。譬如當地自2020 年疫情爆發以來首次取消對40多個國 家旅客的旅行禁令。預計政府將進一步 放寬限制，有望推動市場出現實質性復 甦。儘管目前仍存在相當大的不確定 性，但在中國內地巨大的市場基礎上， 長期以來受壓抑的需求亦不容忽視。 總體而言，我們認為亞太地區的博 彩市場將在後疫情時代繼續發展，多元 化及解決其他潛在的挑戰，在未來幾年 仍至關重要。綜合度假村應對這些挑戰 的應對措施將有助於保持行業的長期增 長，包括吸引蓬勃增長和日益富裕的中 產階級，以更好地刺激區域及全球旅遊 業和相關經濟效益。