Inside AGE 2022

62 | I NSIDE AGE | #1 AUG 2022 | asgam.com typically have anything from five to 12 stories covering everything that is happening in the industry across the region. Our monthly magazine has been going for 17 years, and that is both a print and digital offering. We k e e p v e r y c l o s e relationships with all industry sectors: operators, suppliers, analysts, bankers, lawyers, consultants, regulators and more, which stands us in good stead. We have deep domain knowledge of the industry going as far back as the 1980s in the case of some of our team. IAGE: It could be said that IAG ’s Australian connection is actually quite representative of the industry as awhole. AWS: That’s true. If we’re talking casino revenue, Australia ranks alongside the Philippines and Singapore as the number two tier of jurisdictions after Macau, so in terms of market size Australia is substantial but in terms of market development over the decades Australia has punched way above its weight. Casinos have been legal in Australia since the 1970s a n d o f c o u r s e m a c h i n e s h a v e b e e n a r o u n d e v e n longer than that. Full scale integrated resorts now have an a lmos t 30- yea r h i s tor y in Australia. If you look all throughout the Asian gaming industry, a lot of the senior exe c u t i ve s a re Au s t r a l i an and did their apprenticeships and development growing up in Australia – as far back as Wrest Point in Hobart through to Crown Melbourne and The Star Sydney. Aus t ra l i a rea l l y makes a major contribution wherever you go across the continent – even if you go to the backblocks of Myanmar, to Clark and Cebu, to South Korea or to clubs in Vietnam. IAGE: IAG is based in Macau which has seen the toughest COVID lockdown rules in the world. How has this affected IAG and you personally? AWS: As far as IAG goes it has been incredibly tough. It has been the most challenging period IAG has faced in its 17- year history without question – mu c h t ou g he r t h a n t he GFC in 2008/09 and much tougher than China’s corruption crackdown in 2014/15 that affected the Macau gaming industry so strongly. This is both of those put together times three. Our industry is a tourism industry and anything that relies on travel has been hit incredibly hard, so the fact that the players have not been able to go to pubs, clubs and casinos to play has affected the operators which in turn has affected the suppliers which in turn has affected IAG and many other companies that service the industry. I ’ ve been very proud of our team who have remained r e s i l i e n t t h r o u g h o u t . We haven’t stopped doing what we do – we’ve produced IAG Breakfast Briefing every single day and IAG magazine every single month – so we’ve been able to continue. But our events business has been decimated too, so the impact has been significant. For me personally it has been difficult because I love travel and I travelled extensively prior