Operation Chain Break seeks to stem outbound tide of Chinese money
Gaming revenues from foreign players in Australia and New Zealand rose by more than 20 percent in the first half of calendar year 2015, according to Union Gaming Research analyst Christopher Jones.
“While first-half 2015 gaming revenues were down double digits in Macau, trends in the Australian/New Zealand markets went the other way,” wrote Jones, in a note cited by GGRAsia. GGR in Macau dropped 37 percent year-on-year during the same period.
The countries’ VIP casino segments are said to be reliant on foreign players. JP Morgan Securities analysts Matt Ryan and Olivia Bible observed that VIP business at Echo Entertainment’s Star Casino in Sydney “was still skewed to Northern Asia and there was a lot of repeat business.”
“Australia and Cambodia are the only markets that still managed to deliver positive gaming revenue and EBITDA growth in first half of 2015,” added Richard Huang and Stella Xing of Japanese brokerage Nomura. “Other major gaming jurisdictions like the Las Vegas Strip, South Korea and Singapore also saw 1 percent/5 percent/23 percent decline in gaming revenues, respectively, in first-half 2015.”
Last February, junket operator Jimei International Entertainment entered into a deal with Crown Perth for its junket players to gamble at the Crown Perth Casino. But Jimei and other agents must be careful not to run afoul of Mainland China’s “Operation Chain Break,” a campaign to keep Chinese gamblers and their money at home. The effort is targeted at travel agents, junket runners and anyone else who markets to gamblers from China from within the country.
