{"id":50506,"date":"2017-05-17T17:00:49","date_gmt":"2017-05-18T00:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=50506"},"modified":"2017-05-17T16:01:06","modified_gmt":"2017-05-17T23:01:06","slug":"macau-tourism-increasing-american-gaming-says-thank-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-tourism-increasing-american-gaming-says-thank-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Macau Tourism Increasing, AGA President Says Thank US"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">Macau tourism is on the rise, and government officials representing China&#8217;s special gaming zone predict the trend will continue throughout the year.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_50512\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50512\" data-style=\"width: 763px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-50512\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/933526_6ac57f3b1a051b19e0f340d97b1fce59.jpg\" alt=\"Macau tourism mass market visitor\" width=\"763\" height=\"509\" \/><figcaption  id=\"caption-attachment-50512\"class=\"text-description\">Once thought to be just a destination for high rollers, Macau tourism numbers are headed in the right direction.\u00a0And visitors are finding an abundance of nongaming attractions and history, the Ruins of St. Paul&#8217;s Cathedral, as example. (Image: Brent Lewin\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\">Macao Government Tourist Office Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia conference this week that the city is bracing for a five percent tourism increase in 2017. Her office reported recently that arrivals are up five percent through the first quarter, and the enclave expects that rate to hold steady over the next eight months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Her projections aren&#8217;t overly optimistic.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Macau tourism climbed 6.7 percent during the country&#8217;s Labor Day weekend (April 29 to May 1) compared to the 2016 three-day vacation. And Easter (April 14-17) saw 5.6 percent more visitors to the city than the previous year.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\">Macau rang in the New Year with a bang, as the weeklong Spring Festival (January 27-February 2) saw a nearly 10 percent influx in terms of visitors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">More than 930,000 people, the vast majority from mainland China, descended on the gambling hotspot to welcome in the\u00a0start of the new Chinese calendar.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><b>You&#8217;re Welcome, Says US<\/b><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">American Gaming Association (AGA) President Geoff Freeman opined that much credit for Macau&#8217;s economic recovery should be given to US-based companies that have invested billions of dollars in the former Portuguese colony.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">&#8220;When you look at the immense contributions that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-stocks-crash-new-macau-atm-facial-recognition-technology\">MGM, Sands China, and Wynn<\/a> have made to this destination, they have raised the bar in a variety of ways,&#8221; Freeman told <i>GGRAsia <\/i>this week. &#8220;The type of investments in this market, the number of jobs that these companies are providing, the high regulatory standards that they are meeting, I think that by all accounts they have been tremendous partners in this market.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">China, at the direction of President Xi Jinping, began its corruption crackdown in 2014, and part of the mission\u00a0was to infiltrate VIP junket operators allegedly aiding the wealthy elite in laundering money out from the federal government&#8217;s oversight. It worked, and Macau gaming revenue went from $45 billion in 2013, to $28 billion last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Macau casino operators quickly began rethinking their demographic focus\u00a0from the VIP to the mass market. The implementation of nongaming attractions, thousands of additional hotel rooms, and a renewed sense of purpose for Macau have\u00a0reignited the local economy.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><b>US Preferred Partner<\/b><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">Las Vegas Sands, MGM, and Wynn certainly deserve some credit, but of course, their efforts aren&#8217;t charitable. With billions invested, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cotai-to-generate-220-million-in-2018-analysts-predict\">new resorts under construction<\/a> when the corruption campaign was launched, the Nevada-based conglomerates simply\u00a0modified to meet demand.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\">The strong reputation of the US operators in Macau might provide the three bigwigs with an upper hand in being awarded one of Japan&#8217;s two coveted integrated resort licenses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The country is currently ironing out details of its forthcoming commercial gambling sector, with specifics expected to be revealed through a new piece of legislation next fall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">Gaming analysts believe Japan&#8217;s casinos could create a $40 billion annual market. Naturally, the major worldwide gambling players are all licking their chops\u00a0at the prospects of invading the Land of the Rising Sun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Macau tourism is on the rise, and government officials representing China&#8217;s special gaming zone predict the trend will continue throughout the year. Macao Government Tourist Office Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia conference this week that the city is bracing for a five percent tourism increase in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":50512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,18,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Macau Tourism Increasing, AGA President Says Thank US<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Macau tourism is projected to increase some five percent in 2017, and one industry expert thinks US operators invested in the region should be thanked.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Macau Tourism Increasing, AGA President Says Thank US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Macau tourism is projected to increase some five percent in 2017, and one industry expert thinks US operators invested in the region should be thanked.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-tourism-increasing-american-gaming-says-thank-us\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-18T00:00:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-05-17T23:01:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/933526_6ac57f3b1a051b19e0f340d97b1fce59-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-tourism-increasing-american-gaming-says-thank-us\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-tourism-increasing-american-gaming-says-thank-us\/\",\"name\":\"Macau Tourism Increasing, AGA President Says Thank US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-tourism-increasing-american-gaming-says-thank-us\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-tourism-increasing-american-gaming-says-thank-us\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/933526_6ac57f3b1a051b19e0f340d97b1fce59-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-18T00:00:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-05-17T23:01:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Macau tourism is projected to increase some five percent in 2017, and one industry expert thinks US operators invested in the region should be thanked.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-tourism-increasing-american-gaming-says-thank-us\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-tourism-increasing-american-gaming-says-thank-us\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-tourism-increasing-american-gaming-says-thank-us\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/933526_6ac57f3b1a051b19e0f340d97b1fce59-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/933526_6ac57f3b1a051b19e0f340d97b1fce59-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Once thought to be just a destination for high rollers, Macau tourism is on the rise, and visitors are finding an abundance of nongaming attractions and history, the Ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral, as example. 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