Good morning,
The Chinese government is showing no sign of letting up its campaign against overseas gambling, announcing that it’s expanding its blacklist of countries that target Mainland Chinese for gambling purposes. We have the latest developments for you below. In New Zealand, SkyCity Entertainment has unveiled its new leadership team, and we run down that as well. Finally, Kit Szybala of GMA offers us an overview of the state of play in the Indian gaming market, one of Asia’s major frontiers.
First, the news
- China again threatens gambling tourism, adding to Covid pain
- China luxury spend to switch to travel, outdoor pursuits as pandemic fades
- Goldstein and Dumont take leadership of Las Vegas Sands
- SkyCity Entertainment fills out its new leadership team
- Macau blue-card holders to receive free vaccine
- Record US$151 million collected in POGO taxes in 2020
- Philippines legislature working on new bill for taxing POGO workers
- Crown Resorts declining credit rating could create new financial woes
- PointsBet appoints Paige Spiranac as brand ambassador
- City Council debates cost-sharing for Yumeshima subway line extension
- Suncity bid includes federating with Wakayama yachting community
- IPI likely to fail to meet Saipan casino construction deadline
- Vietnam’s Royal International Corp sees stock value spiraling upward
What you need to know
China again threatens gambling tourism, adding to Covid pain
China is showing no sign of letting up its campaign against overseas gambling, announcing it’s expanding its blacklist of countries that target Mainland Chinese for gambling purposes. The state-run Xinhua news agency said the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT), in conjunction with relevant departments, will make a list of the second batch of overseas destinations that attract Chinese tourists for gambling activities, which will be subsequently added to the system.
SkyCity Entertainment fills out its new leadership team
SkyCity Entertainment has announced three top executives to fill out its new leadership team. Michael Ahearne, CEO of SkyCity, says he has spent the past two months reviewing this matter before making his final decision on the leadership lineup. There was never any real reason offered to the public as to why SkyCity chose to shake up its leadership team. The best guess is that it has something to do with SkyCity Chairman Rob Campbell’s declarations last November that there needs to be a business ‘’revolution’’ which no longer looks to narrow ‘’shareholder interests’’ or pays ”excessive” senior executive salaries and bonuses, but these connections if any, remain indistinct.
Insights
INDUSTRY VOICE
Paving a path forward in India
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the gaming market in India has been subject to the same litany of impacts experienced in the rest of the gaming world. Goa and Sikkim’s land-based casinos were forced to be closed for several months. Nearby casinos in Nepal, which are heavily reliant on Indian customers, have also felt the brunt of the pandemic as their casinos were forced to be closed on March 20, 2020 and have not yet been able to reopen. Like many other jurisdictions across the world, several Indian state governments have focused on the gaming issue during this time. Some decided to ban gaming offerings within their communities.
Supplier Special
Astropay’s One Touch for immediacy and security
Throughout 2020, positive transformation has been driven by technology companies looking to reach new consumers among the millions of commercial interactions that now are held online. Regarding payments, the drift towards digitalization that was occurring, has been accelerated by the pandemic. This might be the biggest change the industry has faced as there is no possibility to retrace it.
LT’s Jackpot Series comes to Macau
LT Game’s new “Jackpot Series” has just been approved for the Macau market, which contains a group of games that are straight forward, simple and perfectly suited for high denomination areas. The first two games approved in Macau “Jackpot Tornado” and “Jackpot Bonus” are having fantastic results in the North American market.
AGB Initiatives
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