G2E Asia, the largest annual gathering of the continent’s casino operators, suppliers and related businesses, was expecting the three-day event, which ran from Tuesday to Thursday last week, to draw some 18,000 visitors from the greater East Asia region and internationally, beating last year’s record attendance of 16,400. G2E Asia is owned and operated by the American Gaming Association and Reed Exhibitions.
But a cloud was over the show as the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) pulled out of the show early on, complaining that it was allowing “illegal online gambling” to be exhibited. The DICJ director, Paulo Martins Chan, was scheduled to deliver a keynote speech but didn’t show. Online gambling is illegal in Macau and the regulators have not approved any products involved in online gambling.
The exhibition floor at The Venetian Macao, The Parisian’s sister resort on Macau’s Cotai Strip, was expanded this year to 151,000 square feet to accommodate nearly 200 companies representing all sectors of the industry.
Two floors were used for the exhibit—the upper floor was dedicated to online gaming platforms and “turnkey solutions” to getting their products online. G2E Asia said the exhibitors were “committed” to not displaying any online, or mobile, consumer-facing products. But that clearly was not the case. Reports that several arrests were made at the show could not be confirmed.
In a comment to a Macau news agency, Chan said, “The DICJ believes that before a detailed investigation on the matter is completed to dispel the doubts of the public, it will be more proper for the bureau not to attend activities held by the respective exhibition organizer.”
In a statement, G2E Asia said, “In close coordination with the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), G2E Asia continued to restrict the promotion and marketing activities of illegal online gaming products and services,” it said in a statement.
“Working closely with local regulators to stamp out illegal gambling is a hallmark of gaming operators and suppliers in Macao. We remain committed to our strong partnership with the Macao SAR authorities, in particular DICJ.”
The show, which celebrated its 13th year in Macau, included a couple of new features: an “ArtBiz Forum” focusing on the commercial possibilities for casinos in the market for fine art; and a financial technology side show called “FinTech” showcasing exhibitors engaged in promoting blockchain digital storage applications for the online industry.
Bill Miller, chief executive of the Washington, D.C.-based American Gaming Association, G2E Asia’s co-organizer with Reed Exhibitions, opened the show on Tuesday with an address lauding the industry for its record worldwide of “generating economic development, job creation and tax revenues for the communities in which we operate”.
SJM Holdings Chairwoman Daisy Ho sounded a similarly positive note at the first day’s keynote address, highlighting Macau’s potential for growth as an international destination for tourism and hospitality education within a massive program of economic development sponsored by the Chinese government that centers on the core South China axis of Hong Kong, Macau and the neighboring mainland province of Guangdong—a cluster of 11 cities in all with a population of some 70 million spread across 21,600 square miles and a gross domestic product of US$1.6 trillion.
The Greater Bay Area initiative, as it’s called, which was formally launched earlier this year, represents a “tremendous economic opportunity” for Macau, setting the territory on “a new historical phase,” Ho said, “and as this process unfolds Macau will become more integrated with the surrounding economy and more diversified.”
Macao Government Tourism Office Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes delivered Wednesday’s keynote, which focused on the government’s plans for handling a new boom in visitation spurred by the opening late last year of a long-awaited bridge connecting Macau, Hong Kong and the adjoining mainland city of Zhuhai.
This year, visitation to Macau is expected to hit 38 million, the overwhelming majority from mainland China. That’s up from 35 million in 2018 and far surpasses a suggested capacity of 33.7 million set by the government’s Institute for Tourism Studies.
For a city of only 10 square miles that’s one of the most densely populated in the world, the deluge of visitors is straining local infrastructure and public and private resources both and prompting concerns across all segments of Macau society.
In response, the Tourism Office has asked the local population to weigh in on a proposed “tourism tax” in a citywide survey that’s slated to conclude June 20.
Fernandes said the opinions collected “will become a significant consideration” for the government, which hasn’t revealed any details of its own about the size or structure of such a levy, although it is studying the experience of jurisdictions elsewhere where tourism taxes are in force.
