Casinos counter Chinese VIP conundrum

There’s no doubt that the majority of the integrated resorts springing up across Asia were developed with the expectation of attracting China’s VIPs, but with that market in retreat there’s little sign of high rollers from other jurisdictions stepping up to take their place. This conundrum has left some questioning whether the VIP segment of the market has become oversaturated and how quickly operators will be able to adjust their offering.  The U.S./China trade war has taken its toll on the Mainland economy, which grew at its slowest pace in almost 30 years in the third quarter. That in turn is feeding through into gross gaming revenue across the region, with GGR in Macau down 4 percent in Q3, pulled down by a more than 22 percent drop in VIP trade.  In forecasting flat to low single-digit growth in Macau’s gaming sector this year, Fitch Ratings warned of oversaturation in Asia’s broader...