Sands China’s Venetian Macao now offers a gaming zone designed exclusively for foreigners, according to sources who spoke to GGRAsia. The space opened earlier this month, and includes live-dealer baccarat tables and English-speaking staff.
The news outlet reported that the zone is located “within a non-main floor area, which was formerly assigned for VIP gaming.” Gamblers must present passports or other travel documents to gain entry.
The opening of the gaming zone demonstrates Sands China’s compliance with government goals for the city, which include drawing more international tourists and reducing the industry’s reliance on Chinese high rollers. The move also may get the company a tax break. Under Macau’s revised gaming law, which took effect January 1, the city’s Chief Executive can reduce the tax on gross gaming revenue (GGR) generated by players from “foreign countries,” as a matter of “public interest.”
GGRAsia sought comment from Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) on the process by which Sands China was permitted to open the space. The regulator did not respond specifically about the steps, but stated, “Casino concessionaires have to identify sources of foreigner patrons and establish a database on them in accordance with the measures approved by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, so that all necessary documentation and information are stored for being eligible to get a reduction” on GGR.
The government defines foreign patrons as “those who enter the Macau SAR for tourism and commercial purposes, and who are holders of a travel document issued by a country or region outside the People’s Republic of China.”
In related news, Macau gaming operators may struggle to preserve their share of premium gaming in the aftermath of junkets, according to industry consultant Alidad Tash.
The managing director of 2NT8 Ltd. spoke to GGRAsia at a recent event held by the France Macau Chamber of Commerce. In the post-Covid era, Tash said Macau casinos “are going to have a hard time going back to the previous levels. That was my fear the day after the famous arrest,” a reference to Alvin Chau, former head of the Suncity Group. The prominent junket boss was first detained for promoting illegal gambling in November 2021. Chau spent more than a year behind bars in the period up to and during his trial for gambling-related crimes. Suncity was dissolved shortly after his arrest, and in January, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Tash said high-value players may migrate to other jurisdictions rather than play in Macau. “Lots of additional integrated resorts are coming [into the market] and they’re all very welcoming. Koreans are treated much better in Manila and in Vietnam than they are in Macau,” because those locations “have the facilities, the service” to draw such customers.
