Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING JANUARY 2018 24 in 2013 to just 126 as of January 2017. Those figures included a 23% decline in the number of licensed operators through 2015 (from 183 to 141) and another 10.6% decline in 2016 (from 141 to 126). While current figures were unavailable at the time of print, the cursory evidence suggests a distinct reversal of that trend highlighted by the opening of a number of new junket rooms at casinos across Macau during the back half of 2017. David Group, one of Macau’s leading junkets before trimming back its operations in 2015, suddenly re-emerged in 2017 when it announced that it would be running VIP at the new Roosevelt Hotel in Taipa, which opened its doors in July. It also launched a VIP room at Studio City and another at Galaxy. In June, Qian Jin VIP club began operations at L’Arc while Macau Legend announced in October that it had signed an agreement with junket promoter Sheng Li V Limited to run three VIP tables in Ka Sing VIP club at Legend Palace until the end of 2019. In December, two of Macau’s biggest junkets – Tak Chun Group and Meg-Star International – launched new VIP clubs on the Peninsula at MGM Macau and Wynn Macau respectively. Meg-Star’s Lian Sheng VIP Club became the operator’s fifth Macau operation, having opened its fourth at Wynn Palace in April, while Tak Chun’s announcement of a return to MGM was particularly notable given that it had shut down its previous VIP room at the same property just 15 months earlier. Tak Chun has since informed IAG that it will be opening two more VIP clubs in Cotai in early 2018. The fact that both MGM Cotai with its famed Mansion VIP residences, and Melco Resorts’ new luxury hotel Morpheus, are due to come online in 1H18 won’t hurt the segment either. Asked about its plans for Macau in 2018, a Meg-Star International spokesman said, “Due to the overall economy improvement and new projects entering into the market, the company maintains a positive view on the development of the Macau VIP market in 2018 for both Macau Peninsula and Cotai. The company will actively adjust its development strategy depending on the development of the market and hopes to maintain a healthy growth in coming years.” Not all are as confident in the long-term potential of Macau’s VIP through 2018 as Govertsen’s 20% growth prediction, with Morgan Stanley tipping a more modest 11% as recently as November – although this is raised from a previous forecast of 8% “as junket “Effectively, what we’re witnessing is the opposite of the 2014-2016 downturn that saw a host of negative factors all working in concert in a downward direction.” – Grant Govertsen FEATURE IN FOCUS Meg-Star International opened a new VIP club at Wynn Macau in December