Macau gov’t calculates daily int’l gambling income using EGTs, monitored chips

October 2, 2023 Macau Casino & Hotel Industry Updates

Lei Wai Nong, Macau’s secretary for economics and finance, has stated that the government has been keeping an eye on the gaming money generated by foreign tourists in the gambling zones that are only available to them. This tracking makes use of electronic gambling chips and gaming tables. Lei, on the other hand, could not provide specific figures for the amount of gaming revenue generated by international players this year.

According to Section 22(3) of Macau’s new Gaming Law, the government may waive up to 5% of government fees on gross gaming revenue (GGR) produced by international players who are not from Macau, mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan.

Lei talked with local media about the foreign gaming places after attending a National Day celebration event. Thanks to the creation of approved international gaming facilities in Macau by a number of concessionaires, the government can now track the money made by foreign gamblers. These facilities include electronic gaming tables and chips. Every day, these concessionaires send data to the government, which is subsequently confirmed by the DICJ (Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau).

During the interview, Lei did not disclose specific statistics, but he did state that concessionaires seeking exemptions had to go through a thorough screening process and that the data had to be tracked back to international gamblers. He also said that the concessionaires have established key performance indicators (KPIs) in line with their contracts in order to attract foreign investment and non-gaming components.

Lei also stressed that South Korea and Southeast Asia are Macau’s primary foreign tourist suppliers. He accepted the need to boost airplane capacity in order to increase the number of visitors from Europe and the United States. Macau saw over 20 million tourists in the first nine months of the year, with Saturday’s arrivals reaching 158,000, the highest single-day total since the outbreak and beating pre-outbreak statistics for the same period.