Macau retail and wholesale has tripled in value thanks to the knock-on effect of the territory’s gaming industry.
Macau government research shows that as the gaming industry has developed, it has scaled up the added value of other industries. Conducted by Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at the University of Macau, the report looks at the spread of added value through gaming in Macau over the 10 years to 2013.
The gaming industry was liberalised in 2002, and this is the first report following a mid-term review on the sector. It notes that the added value of the gaming industry has increased 6.9 times in the 10 years, with the hotel industry increasing 11.4 times.
Data from six gaming companies showed that their non-gaming activities created an income of 23.2 billion patacas (US$2.9 billion) in 2014, while the total non-gaming spend of tourists in Macau is comparable to that of Las Vegas.
Gaming dominates the Macau economy with a 58.3 per cent slice of the pie, while the wholesale/retail sector has a humble 5.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, the report will probably help Macau set policy direction for the $30 billion gaming industry as units of casino groups such as Melco Crown Entertainment Group and MGM Resorts International struggle to cope with Macau’s two-year gambling downturn, reports Bloomberg.