TCS John Huxley CEO Cath Burns talks to David Snook about world markets and how she overhauled the business model of one of the gaming industry’s most famous suppliers.
THERE’S not a lot wrong with the land-based casino industry if you look beyond the somewhat downbeat European sector, says Cath Burns, CEO at TCS John Huxley.
And Burns is perhaps uniquely placed to take a global overview, having worked in the gaming industry in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North and South America in her career.
“Yes, the business is down in certain parts of the world, but in others it’s booming. If you take a truly international view, land-based casinos are showing extremes of vitality at both ends of the spectrum simultaneously - but then, they always have…” Burns is always the epitome of the perfectly-groomed businesswoman: classy, articulate, confident and totally at ease with her subject, which is understandable for few have access to such a composite overview of industry fortunes on such a scale. We met at 10.30am after Burns had already completed three conference calls with Asia in what she would call “a natural window” between Asia winding down for the day and North America opening up.
Three years at the helm of arguably the industry’s most complete supplier of casino products has seen Burns drive TCS John Huxley into fresh fields of endeavour which will manifest itself in ground-breaking new products at the G2E trade show poised to open in Las Vegas as this issue was going to press.
When the doors at the Sands Convention Center open, what kind of casino industry will it reveal? According to Burns, it won’t be one scrambling with the begging bowl. “The industry has its problem areas, of course, it always has; but taken overall, it is very fit, very healthy and full of opportunities and potential opportunities.”
So where? “Asia is clearly growth on growth. Yes, there has been a fractional slow-down in the last quarter, but it is still growing at nine per cent per quarter at the low end and 15 per cent at the top end. Macau is the great barometer and that continues to grow.
“It is all about supply; supplying the insatiable appetite for gaming from the Chinese people. And it is not just Macau; you have a strong situation emerging in the Philippines and Singapore is now the second-largest gaming market in the world. Cambodia is a great gaming market.
“If you move to North America, you are seeing a different picture. Now so many of the states are open that the traditional markets of Las Vegas and Atlantic City have had to radically re-think their offer.
“Atlantic City has had to deal with the opening of Connecticut, New York, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia, all rich sources of players at one time. Those resort cities now have a different business model to compensate.
“When I started in gaming in 1991 there were only Vegas and Atlantic City; 23 years on there are what? 35 states op
Read the full article in the October issue of InterGaming.
