This past week I met with Macau operators, intermediaries (junkets), legislators, developers, and lawyers. After 15 meetings over 4 days in Macau, I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on why Beijing is inflicting so much pain on the Macau marketplace through tighter visa restrictions. At least, I’ve narrowed it down to 9 possible explanations. While my list is not exactly narrow, the right answer is probably a combination of some or all of these. More importantly, though, most of these explanations seem to suggest a finite duration. This is reason enough to be more positive on the Macau marketplace.
Possible explanations for Beijing’s actions:
1. Parent teaching child a lesson
2. Want to control growth but tweaked too much
3. Punishment for Edmund Ho – public comments about Beijing and other issues
4. Punishment for Ao Man Lang scandal
5. Protecting mainland Chinese – public perception that Chinese are losing too much money
6. Americans are making too much money
7. Gaming companies didn’t give enough to Sichuan – Adelson and Wynn gave $5m each
8. Macau government not following through on infrastructure build out
9. Want to set the stage for a strong start with the new Chief Executive next year
1. Parent teaching child a lesson
2. Want to control growth but tweaked too much
3. Punishment for Edmund Ho – public comments about Beijing and other issues
4. Punishment for Ao Man Lang scandal
5. Protecting mainland Chinese – public perception that Chinese are losing too much money
6. Americans are making too much money
7. Gaming companies didn’t give enough to Sichuan – Adelson and Wynn gave $5m each
8. Macau government not following through on infrastructure build out
9. Want to set the stage for a strong start with the new Chief Executive next year