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HONG KONG: Gaming revenues at Asian casinos will overtake those in
the United States by 2012, according to a survey of leading experts
on the region’s gaming industry.
More than 80 percent of the 23 casino
executives, academics and analysts said it was very likely (67
percent) or somewhat likely (17 percent) that gaming revenues in
Asia will surpass those of the US by 2012.
The survey was released Tuesday to coincide with
the start of Global Gaming Expo Asia, the region’s largest gaming
forum, which opened at the giant Venetian casino resort in Macau.
“The results of our . . . survey foretell a
remarkable future for the Asian gaming market—from continued
revenue growth in Macau to the rise of new jurisdictions such as
Japan and Singapore,” said Frank Fahrenkopf, president and chief
executive officer of the American Gaming Association.
The survey, based on a series of interviews,
also showed half the interviewees believed that Macau’s gaming
industry could continue to grow at its current rate for at least the
next three to five years.
Forty-five percent of respondents predicted that
Taiwan would be the next Asian country to legalize casino resorts,
while 24 percent chose Japan and another 21 percent opted for
Thailand.
However, 78 percent of respondents thought it
would take at least seven years before electronic slot-machine games
would generate as much revenue as table games in Asia.
Eighty-two percent of the group believed the
junket system, which sees casinos forced to strike deals with third
parties in order to attract VIP guests, would be of equal importance
in other Asian markets.
-- AFP
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