GGRAsia – Macau to collect data on non-gaming projects by casino ops

Macau to collect data on non-gaming projects by casino ops

Sep 12, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

The Macau authorities plan to create a tailor-made questionnaire covering specifically non-gaming investment projects by the city’s six casino concessionaires, as part of the data collection work carried out by the city’s Statistics and Census Service. The government will also begin studying “methods for evaluating the effectiveness” of these non-gaming projects, according to a Monday press release.

The update followed a plenary meeting of Macau’s Consultative Committee of Statistics. The announcement quoted a representative of the Statistics and Census Service as saying that the bureau would start in the second half of this year collecting data on the non-gaming investments by casino operators, as well as working on the assessment of these projects’ outcomes.

Under the new concession contracts with the city’s six operators, these firms will have to collective invest MOP108.7 billion (US$13.49 billion) in non-gaming projects and overseas-marketing efforts.

Macau’s recent recovery in gross gaming revenue (GGR) is likely to trigger as early as next year a government condition for the city’s six casino operators to increase their collective non-gaming and overseas-marketing spending pledges by up to 20 percent over the life of their current 10-year concessions.

Some observers have remarked to GGRAsia that such increase in pledged investment should be a manageable expense for Macau’s casino companies, and perhaps even desirable for market development.

Macau’s GGR for the eight months to August 31 reached MOP114.01 billion, a rise of 295.1 percent from the comparable 2022 period.

Each of the operators has to deliver by the end of September every year their planned investment and implementation plan for non-gaming projects for the next calendar year, for the government to follow up and make any relevant approvals, according to previously-disclosed information.

The Macau government has also set up a “referral mechanism” to help local associations liaise with the city’s casino operators on potential non-gaming projects related either to culture or sports.