Legislative committee OKs smoking lounges on Macau casino floors

Smoking lounges are a go in Macau, but only if the health of casino workers isn’t put in jeopardy.

A committee composed of Macau Legislative Assembly members has—by a wide margin of 7-2—voted in favor of keeping smoking lounges on casino floors, rather than moving forward with a full smoking ban, Union Gaming Asia Securities said in a note.

A quick recap: In 2014, the government introduced a partial smoking ban that restricted smoking on casino main floors in the city state to airport-style enclosed smoking lounges away from gaming tables or slot machines. Smoking cigarettes in VIP rooms, meanwhile, are still allowed.

But there have been calls from Macau officials to put a full stop to smoking in all casinos—a plan that mirrors Beijing’s efforts to reduce smoking in public places in the mainland. That plan, however, was met with dissent from many casino and junket operators, who appealed for some wiggle room on grounds that the blanket smoking ban will be a fatal blow to Macau’s already slumping gaming sector.