Macau's gaming revenues hit a new record in February as the Chinese enclave further stretched its lead over the rest of the gaming industry.
The Inspection and Coordination Bureau revealed that the enclave’s casinos generated gaming revenues of 19.86bn patacas ($2.47bn) in February, up 48 per cent on the same month last year. In January, the figure stood at 18.57bn patacas.
February’s figures broke the previous record of 18.88bn patacas set in December last year, prompting analysts to suggest that Macau may see month-on-month growth throughout 2011.
Although there are fears that Beijing may impose further restrictions on the enclave’s gambling business, the growth of China’s middle class and the relatively low penetration of the mainland market is expected to see revenues increase 30 per cent or so this year.
Macau’s monthly figures are all the more impressive when compared with the Las Vegas Strip, where casinos generated $5.7bn in gaming win for the whole of last year. It is estimated that by 2014, Macau will be three times the size of the Nevada market. With such growth in the gaming industry outside of the US, even Sands is understood to be considering dropping Las Vegas from its name in favour of a more international identity.
