It is a growing enterprise and is already being called the gambling capital in Asia or the “Chinese Vegas“. It is the city of Macau, where large buildings under construction today, are showing a large influx of capital as if the economic slowdown we have seen in China was alien to this place. In recent years, Macau began to develop its tourism industry, along with others such as textiles and electronics, and today has about 35 casinos and at least five more under construction, under huge investments.
Of these gambling centers, the most symbolic and crowded today is the Hotel Venetian, a replica of the same name in Las Vegas, but twice as big and majestic, in which the flow of visitors is much more concentrated. However, very soon they will be ready to explore new complex as renowned as the MGM, Studio City, Hotel Paris, among others, that will make this Chinese-Portuguese city not unlike the iconic gambling town counterpart, the city of lights located in the state of Nevada.
On a quick peek to the casinos, which also features the iconic Grand Lisboa Hotel, where local servers ensured that “things will improve and people are coming,” referring to the difficult economic situation affecting China and hitting the world economy. A work of great relevance to this city is a vehicular bridge linking Macau with Shanghai and Hong Kong; so far, the only ways to travel to these places are by sea or air, but this great work will connect to these cities by land, which expected to generate a greater flow of visitors. The sad truth peeks its head as the revenue from gambling halls have plummeted in recent months they began to fall at a 50% annual pace, and in recent months they have just managed to bump it to 34%.
And it’s not just that the Chinese or the tourists have lost their passion for the game. Actually, most of the lost business comes from the VIP rooms, in which more than two-thirds of the total revenue comes from where the increasing control of the Chinese treasury has unleashed some panic.
The fear of uncomfortable questions about the origin of money has alienated the Chinese millionaires from the roulette and blackjack tables, and thus put into question the sustainability of an economy that knows no unemployment (1.8%) and in which 40,000 million euros a year are spent inside the gambling areas, seven times more than what they generate in the world famous casinos in Las Vegas.
