Macau may put its core Chinese customer base at risk unless it significantly increases its hotel room count, according to Galaxy Entertainment Group Vice Chairman Francis Lui.
Presenting the keynote address to launch G2E Asia 2017 at the Venetian Macao on Tuesday, Mr Lui said he was entirely supportive of the government’s push to increase the city’s non-gaming offerings but warned the undersupply of hotel rooms theatened to hold the city back.
“Macau needs more hotel rooms to support its tourism industry,” Mr Lui said.
“North America averages 100,000 to 115,000 hotel rooms in its major tourism centres. Macau has 36,000.”
While nine months of consecutive GGR growth and an expanding mass market were promising signs, Mr Lui said that limited supply – with Galaxy boasting 97% occupancy across its five hotels in 1Q17 – threatened the long-term health of the city’s tourism industry.
“China is not only Macau’s number one tourism source, it is the number one tourism source for the world,” he said.
“The US$261 billion spent by Chinese tourists in 2016 represented a 161% increase in just five years. Macau must be protective of its Chinese tourism market – particularly with China so under-penetrated.”
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