MGM wants more tourists, casual gamblers for Cotai casino

MGM Resorts is going on a tourist-friendly route to get more people through the doors of its second casino in Macau.

MGM Chairman and CEO Jim Murren told Bloomberg they are devoting more space for mass-market gamblers in the $3-billion MGM Cotai, which is scheduled to open in the latter part of 2016. The casino operator’s MGM China Holdings Ltd. is in charge of developing the property.

The casino operators is veering away from VIPs, whose continued absence from the Macau gambling scene has led to a slump that’s shaved close to $14 billion in revenue from the city state. In fact, casinos in Macau posted last month its lowest revenue in almost five years, according to a Macau Business Daily report.

The report quoted data from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), which showed that gaming revenues dropped 33 percent YoY to MOP17.13 billion ($2.15 billion) in September from MOP 25.56 billion in 2014.