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Asia to overtake US gaming revenues by 2012: survey

HONG KONG, June 3 – Gaming revenues at Asian casinos will overtake those in the United States by 2012, according to a survey of leading experts on the region’s gaming industry released Tuesday.

More than 80 percent of the 23 casino executives, academics and analysts said it was very likely (67 percent) or somewhat likely (17 percent) that gaming revenues in Asia will surpass those of the US by 2012.

The survey was released to coincide with the start of Global Gaming Expo Asia, the region’s largest gaming forum, which opened at the giant Venetian casino resort in Macau on Tuesday.

"The results of our… survey foretell a remarkable future for the Asian gaming market — from continued revenue growth in Macau to the rise of new jurisdictions such as Japan and Singapore," said Frank Fahrenkopf, president and chief executive officer of the American Gaming Association.

The survey, based on a series of interviews, also showed half the interviewees believed that Macau’s gaming industry could continue to grow at its current rate for at least the next three to five years.

Forty-five percent of respondents predicted that Taiwan would be the next Asian country to legalise casino resorts, while 24 percent chose Japan and another 21 percent opted for Thailand.

However, 78 percent of respondents thought it would take at least seven years before electronic slot-machine games would generate as much revenue as table games in Asia.

Eighty-two percent of the group believed the junket system, which sees casinos forced to strike deals with third parties in order to attract VIP guests, would be of equal importance in other Asian markets.

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