2007 LIKELY TO BE A RECORD YEAR FOR MACAU

28 December 2007

Gambling revenues will top $10 billion


The gambling mecca of Macau enjoyed a bumper 2007 according to new estimates from the enclave's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau this week, which predicted that casino revenues will increase by an astonishing 46.5 percent for 2007, rising to US $10 billion.

The figure has been boosted by the recent opening of MGM Grand Macau, which recorded gross receipts of US$6.6 million in its first two days of operations, reports Xinhua news agency. On the downside, casino taxes rose 48 percent in the first 7 months.

Gross receipts from the casinos are expected to reach 8.1 billion patacas (US $1.03 billion) in December, a senior official of Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said. He added that the Las-Vegas-style casino resort MGM Grand Macao, opened on December 18, recording gross receipts of 51.5 million patacas (US $6.6 million) in its first two days of operations.

The opening of MGM Grand has added to the number of casinos in Macau to 28, including the Macao Palace floating casino that is currently closed for renovation works.

Official statistics released previously also showed that the gaming taxes collected in the first 11 months of 2007 exceeded those for the whole of last year by 34.9 percent, and direct gaming taxes accounted for 71.4 percent of the government's total revenue in this period.

Macau, an hour by high-speed ferry west of Hong Kong, beat the Las Vegas Strip last year in gaming revenue.

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