Macau to do data collection on non-gaming investments

September 13, 2023 Macau Industry Updates

The government of Macau is going to start collecting information on its six casino concessionaires’ investments in things other than gambling. A customized questionnaire will be made to collect information about these projects to help with this. A recent news statement said that the government also plans to look at how well these businesses that don’t involve gambling are doing.

After a meeting of Macau’s Consultative Committee of Statistics, it was decided to gather information about businesses that don’t involve gambling. The Statistics and Census Service plans to start collecting data in the second half of this year. They will also be evaluating how these projects turned out.

As part of their new contracts, Macau’s six owners have to spend a total of MOP 108.7 billion (US$13.49 billion) in projects that don’t involve gambling and foreign marketing. With the recent rise in gross gaming income (GGR) in Macau, the government condition that could lead to a 20% increase in the operators’ non-gaming and foreign marketing spending promises is likely to happen as early as next year. This condition is tied to the 10-year concessions that the owners already have.

Observers have said that this kind of rise in promised investment should be easy for Macau’s casino companies to handle and may even be good for the growth of the market.

Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the first eight months of the year was MOP 114.01 billion. This is a 295.1% rise from the same time in 2022.

Each operator has until the end of September to present their investment and execution plans for non-gaming projects for the next calendar year. This is to make sure that everything is clear and follows the rules. The government will then check back and give any approvals that are needed.

Also, the Macau government has set up a “referral mechanism” to make it easier for local groups and the city’s casino owners to talk about possible projects that have nothing to do with gambling but are connected to culture or sports. This project’s goal is to help people in Macau work together and support projects started by the community.

Original story by: GGRAsia