Inside Asian Gaming

IAG APR 2023年4月 亞博匯 64 Four months have now passed and reports are emerging that concessionaires have been quick to establish small foreigner-only zones within some of their casinos. A staff member of Sands China told Inside Asian Gaming that The Londoner Macao and The Venetian Macao have established foreigner-only gaming zones. All customers must present their foreign passport and be accompanied by a casino host when entering these zones. “The foreigner-only gaming zones have been renovated from former VIP rooms and have around 10 gaming tables. Guests from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau are not allowed to enter this area.” The staff member said the majority of players in the foreigner-only gaming zones are from Singapore and Malaysia, with some Japanese and Korean guests. “But there are not many gamblers in the zone because of the [small] number of international flights,” he said. In addition to Sands China, MGM China has also set up special zones for foreigners. U Io Hung, who runs licensed junket Pacific Intermediário Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, said both of the company’s IRs – MGM Macau and MGM Cotai – have set up foreigner-only gaming zones. “Malaysian gamblers are the main customers in the foreigner-only gaming zones so far, but only baccarat is available for playing,” he said. However, he does not believe the zones are achieving their stated goal, despite some operators offering foreign players a full 1.25% commission – the same rate offered to junkets – to help lure them to Macau. “The 5% tax break did not increase the commission on rolling turnover, and that did not serve the purpose of the FEATURES