Locals are avid gamblers too
An increase in Chinese tourism to Australia has benefited the country’s gaming industry. Last year for the first time, more than 1 million Chinese visitors traveled to the Land Down Under, making Australia a lucky country indeed—it was double the number of Chinese tourists who visited in 2011.
According to Forbes, the big winners in terms of gaming revenues are Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment, with SkyCity coming in “a distant third.”
“Players from all Asia regions, and in particular Chinese players at all levels, have provided the growth in the market and made up for any falls from local players in what’s been a tough Australian economy in recent years,” said Global Market Advisors partner Shaun McCamley.
Spending among Chinese tourists is way up, increasing 38 percent year-on-year to AU$8.9 billion (more than US$6.7 billion).
Forbes says Australia made a point of forging ties with China, establishing a bilateral free-trade agreement in December, easing visa rules, and selecting China to participate in a trial program that lets travelers buy expedited entry processing at airports. And Crown courted Asian gamblers starting with the launch of Crown Melbourne in 1993. The James Packer-led company reports that more than one-third of its Australian revenues come from international visitors, including “a significant proportion from China.”
Beyond gaming, there are abundant reasons to visit Australia, including its natural wonders, coastal resorts and extraordinarily diverse culture. “In other parts of the world, destinations talk about building non-gaming attractions,” said a Star spokesman. “In Australia we have them in place naturally.”
Despite the economy, Australians also have a healthy appetite for gambling. According to a new report from Australian Gambling Statisticscited by ABC News, domestic gambling losses increased 7.7 percent across most of the country in 2014-15. Only South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory saw a drop-off. Australians lost around US$950 per capita over the course of the year, with pokie losses totaling US$8.85 billion.
Some observers are alarmed at the potential social costs. “States and territories might claim that current harm minimization measures are working,” said Independent member for Denison Andrew Wilkie. “But that’s obviously nonsense. People are still losing billions and billions of dollars.”
Meg Webb, manager of the Social Action and Research Centre and spokeswoman for the Community Voice on Pokie Reform Coalition said poker machines “should only be in a place where protection procedures are in place, only in a casino environment. They need to be taken out of bars and club which are often in low socioeconomic areas.”
A breakdown showed that total expenditure on gambling in the country was almost $23 billion between the years 2014 and 2015 with almost $12 billion spent on pokies.
