Macau Casino Revenue Rises Again In January

Macau casinos already boast the biggest and most successful gaming market in the world. Now, after a year in which revenues continued to rise from start to finish, the Macau casinos are starting to break their own records.

In January, Macau casinos had a 35% revenue increase over the same period in 2011. The increased revenue comes as a shock to some analysts who had predicted revenue will level off this year in Macau. The growth spurt over the past year has been so strong, that the government and existing casinos agreed there needed to be a slowing of the process.

Gaming revenue rose to 25.04 patacas in January, up from 18.57 patacas in January of 2011. The driving force behind the revenue increase was the Lunar New year holiday that residents of China celebrated. The majority of Macau's business comes from gamblers from the mainland.

A couple of years ago, the government attempted to slow the growth of the Macau gaming industry by placing visa restrictions on travelers from the mainland. Those restrictions, however, were quickly overturned, and Macau casinos have been reaping the benefits ever since. The growth spurt has allowed Macau to distance itself from its next closest competitor, Las Vegas.

Analysts are predicting a much slower 2012 in terms of revenue. For 2011, revenue was up a whopping 42% for the year. The analysts do not believe that Macau can keep up that pace, and some such as Wells Fargo analyst Cameron McKnight, believe that revenue will only rise 11% in 2012. After a strong start in January, McKnight and others may chose to reassess their prognostications in the coming months.

While Macau is booming, former gaming giants Las Vegas and Atlantic City are still trying to regain customers that were lost to the 2008 economic recession. Las Vegas has slowly started to see increased gaming revenue figures over the past couple of months, while Atlantic City casinos continue to struggle.

February 1, 2012
Posted By Tom Jones
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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