Junkets not interested in Cotai VIP rooms; Beijing ties Macau growth to China GDP

Macau’s junket operators aren’t interested in setting up VIP rooms in the shiny new casinos opening on Cotai because they’re having a tough enough time filling the rooms they’re already running.

Kwok Chi Chung, the president of Macau’s Association of Gaming and Entertainment Promoters, told GGRAsia that junkets were “not actively seeking chances to establish new rooms” at the casinos scheduled to open on Cotai this year, and that casino operators “are not actively seeking that either.”

Macau’s Q4 2015 revenue report showed VIP gambling’s share of the overall pie fall to 54%, well off its historic mid-70s range. Kwok said casino operators had “naturally” adopted their strategy to “downsize the proportion of VIP gaming in their gaming business.”

By the same token, junket operators were “not very eager” to open new VIP rooms due to concerns about a dearth of high-rollers and “whether or not the investment is worthwhile in relation to their operational expenses.”