Category: Asia casinos

Macau mass conversion still in progress

Casino operators must sell more than gaming in the post-Covid era. (Photo provided by Melco Resorts)

Macau’s gross gaming revenue reached US$28.3 billion last year, 77.5% of the 2019 total. For China-facing casino operators, pivoting from a VIP junket reliant business model to mass market tourism remains a challenge amid tougher restrictions on money movements and decreased visitation from the PRC. Several leading minds in gaming have helpful suggestions.

Former US diplomat and broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is Asia editor at large for iGaming Business, a longtime contributor to Forbes, columnist for Asia Times and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about TV news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his biography, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, ex-Twitter @MuhammadCohen and now on Blue Sky @MuhammadCohen.bsky.social.

January 18, 2025
Macau casinos remain best bet in Asia

When Covid restrictions ease, Asian gaming destinations will feel the impact of Chinese government policies to curtail overseas gambling, with Macau likely to suffer least.

Despite investor fears triggered by new gaming law proposals, Macau’s casino sector remains the best bet in Asian gaming. China’s policies to stop overseas gambling by its citizens are real, and their impact will unfold as Covid travel restrictions recede. Destinations will feel the effects differently based on a variety of factors, including bilateral relations with Beijing.

Former US diplomat and broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a columnist for ICE 365, a contributor to Forbes and Inside Asian Gaming, columnist/correspondent for Asia Times, and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

October 10, 2021
Time for time out in Japan casino saga

The outlook for casinos has darkened on Osaka’s Yumeshima island and across Japan due to delays, fastidious regulations and Covid-19.

Efforts to legalize so-called integrated resorts in Japan began in the previous century and passed its final legislative hurdle in July 2018 to the delight of the global gaming industry. Since then, bureaucrats and the pandemic have conspired to delay the process, dissipating enthusiasm. To recapture momentum for casinos, Japan must call time out to fix its regulations. The outcome of casino legalization will impact Japan for decades, so taking a few months to get it right makes overwhelming sense.

Former US diplomat and broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a contributor to Forbes and Inside Asian Gaming, columnist/correspondent for Asia Times, and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

May 5, 2021
Top Cambodia casino thinks bigger

NagaCorp plans to build the tallest building in Phnom Penh with a sky high swimming pool as part of a $3.5 billion expansion of its NagaWorld complex that will catapult it into the top rank of the world’s integrated resorts. Plans for Naga3 are going forward as the Cambodian capital’s only casino reopens with Covid-19 safeguards, relying on the city’s burgeoning resident Chinese business community to fuel play as international travel remains at a trickle.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming, contributor to Forbes, columnist/correspondent for Asia Times, and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

August 21, 2020
Top Cambodia casino thinks bigger

NagaCorp plans to build the tallest building in Phnom Penh with a sky high swimming pool as part of a $3.5 billion expansion of its NagaWorld complex that will catapult it into the top rank of the world’s integrated resorts. Plans for Naga3 are going forward as the Cambodian capital’s only casino reopens with Covid-19 safeguards, relying on the city’s burgeoning resident Chinese business community to fuel play as international travel remains at a trickle.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming, contributor to Forbes, columnist/correspondent for Asia Times, and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

August 21, 2020