Macau’s Q1 gross gambling revenue breakdown clearly shows the mass market pulling ahead of the VIP sector, which is struggling to recover from the double-whammy of Covid and policy pressures in China.

Macau Labor Affairs Bureau (DSAL) deputy director believes there will be fewer blue-card holders in Macau if the unemployment rate continues to rise. The last time unemployment was this high was around 2009-2011, shortly after the global financial crisis. Chan added that some industries will suffer more than others. 

Bobby Soper, the newly appointed international president at Mohegan Sun, talks to Asia Gaming Brief about the group’s vision for its resort in Incheon, South Korea and aspirations for a license in Nagasaki, Japan. He says the group’s entertainment-focused, non-gaming model will help to cushion Mohegan from the notorious volatility in South Korea’s foreigner-only casino market.

Across Japan, pachinko parlor revenues are running at about 75 percent of the levels that they attained before the onset of the Covid pandemic.

Macau's narrow economic base and its high concentration of tourists from China restrain the city's credit rating and have contributed to historically high levels of gross domestic product volatility, Fitch Ratings says.

VIP GGR in Macau during the first quarter held at around 20 percent of pre-covid-19 levels according to a note from JP Morgan on Wednesday.