The head of Star Entertainment Group says Australia’s long-term tourism survival will depend on the return of gamblers from China and other Southeast Asia nations.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Star CEO Matt Bekier said the operator is working to recover from Covid-19 closures and their aftermath, but the disruption will not be completely over until Chinese gamblers return.
“What we’re seeing right now is that customers who are older are still holding back,” Bekier said. “It’s particularly young customer groups, and very keen to come out quickly. Seventy percent of our customer base is on loyalty and so we can see and track very, very precisely who’s coming in, who’s not coming and who needs to be invited back, and so on.
“In the past, 20 percent of our gross revenue came from high rollers; that’s about 12 percent of earnings. It’s always a high turnover but relatively low margin business. “There’s a host of regulatory changes that are happening here. The sale of the jet signals the very top-end junket type business—we don’t expect to see that back. So we are adjusting our business model.”
“But I look forward to welcoming many Chinese mass-market customers and tourists back to Australia as soon as possible.”
