Macau Casino Revenue Up 33% To $2.9Bn In Nov 2011

The Chinese enclave of Macau has just posted its gambling revenue figures for November, showing a 32.9% increase in revenue to 23 billion patacas ($2.9 billion) compared to the same month last year.
Despite the increase in revenue, the figure was down 14% compared to the 26.85 patacas (US$3.36 billion) generated in October. However, this was predicted as the record high set in October was aided by the Chinese week-long national holiday which took place last month.
Looking ahead, December’s figures are likely to remain consistent with that of November, with a fall off then occurring in January due to Chinese families’ tendencies to spend their seven-day New Year holiday together.
In addition, VIP gaming constitutes over 70% of Macau’s gaming revenue and as Credit Suisse gaming analyst Gabriel Chan predicts:
“Next month could be similar to this month in terms of growth, but going into January will be a low season as in the first couple of days of the Lunar New Year we don’t have any VIPs coming to Macau.”
Macau’s gambling revenue overtook that of Las Vegas back in 2007 and the $2.9 billion revenue generated by its 34 casinos in November represents around half a year’s revenue for Las Vegas.
Nevertheless, in Las Vegas over half of the revenue generated derives from non-gaming components, such as shows, conventions and dining accounts. Conversely, in Macau this figure is a mere 5% of total revenue, which has caused some consternation amongst the Chinese government, who are keen to promote the popular resort as a family holiday and entertainment destination.
As University of Macau Gaming expert Desmond Lam commented:
“We want people to come, enjoy their time here, return to their homes and still want to come back to Macau. We don’t want a one-off bang, where people come, gamble really big, make big mistakes, go back to be chased by loan-sharks or take money from the Government. This affects the sustainability of the Macau model.”