Macau In Danger Of Losing Casino Clout After Taiwan Ruling

It was not long ago, only a couple of years in fact, that Macau overtook Las Vegas as the casino gambling capital of the world. Unlike Las Vegas, however, it appears that Macau's dominance will be short lived.

Macau casinos have already been struggling as of late. Big resorts were built, but new travel restrictions from mainland China have hurt business. Now, the knockout punch may be coming to an area that thought they would dominate the casino industry for a long time.

On Monday, the final hurdle was cleared for casino gambling to become prevalent in Taiwan. Taiwan's legislature passed a Bill that would allow casinos in Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu. It is not yet known how many casinos will be operating in those areas.

Singapore has also recently approved casino gambling, and in combination with Taiwan, it could have devastating effects on Macau. The island were hoping to have the casino market all to themselves.

It is not necessarily that the legislature was excited about bringing casinos to Taiwan, but it was something they felt needed to be done. Their tourism had been hurt by Macau and they are planning on using the casinos to help boost the tourism in Taiwan.

Casinos in Macau have had a drop in revenue numbers in the past six months. China is expected to lighten their travel restrictions in 2009, but that may be offset by the addition of casinos in Singapore and Taiwan for Macau.

January 12, 2009
Posted By April Gardner
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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