It was not long ago that Macau became the casino gambling capital of the world, and if reports on Monday are correct about a 65% increase in revenue for January, then Las can forget about getting that title back anytime soon.
>For decades it has been Las Vegas and then everywhere else in the world when it came to casino gambling revenue leaders. Now, there is a new sheriff in town, one that took the torch recently and has just kept running with it.
On Monday, reports surfaced of a casino gambling revenue increase of sixty-five percent in the month of January in Macau. That easily is a record, and it shows that there no longer is any dispute between Macau and Las Vegas as to which destination is the gambling capital of the world.
Macau has been thriving in recent months while Las Vegas continues to struggle with the economic conditions in the US. The CityCenter project from MGM was supposed to help boost numbers, but as of yet those increases have not been seen.
In Macau, on the other hand, the are once again thriving after the Chinese government eased travel restrictions that were place on residents of the mainland. With the eased restrictions, Macau casinos are once again packed and are bringing in huge revenue figures.
The news in not all bad for Las Vegas casino operators. Wynn Resorts, MGM Mirage, and Las Vegas Sands all have properties in Macau, and are benefiting greatly from the recent boom. Wynn and Sands both had initial public offerings in Asia towards the latter part of 2009.
MGM is set to become the next in line to hold an IPO in Asia. That is expected to take place later this year, at which time MGM will join Wynn and Sands with a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Source: Casinogamblingweb.com - News added: 2010-02-03 at: 00:00:01
