What We Can Learn from the Casino Lockdown in Macau
3 minutes
Last Updated: August 3, 2022
The last few years have been a turmoil for everyone, including the casino industry. Like most businesses, casinos were forced to shut down during covid.
Most have survived and seen an increase of revenue after the end of lockdown. This reality, however, is all but a dream to the casino owners of Macau.
Macau is the casino capital of Asia and it draws crowds of players and tourists to its vibrant casino scene every year.
This year, however, Macau is experiencing a plummeting revenue due to China’s zero covid policy. How has this affected Macau and what can we learn from the city’s example?
Macau in Lockdown
Previously, the Chinese officials had kept the casinos of Macau open, knowing the importance of the casino industry for the economy of Macau and all of China.
Now, however, the Chinese officials have changed their tune. The casinos of Macau have been in lockdown for two weeks now, already causing casinos to lose millions of dollars in revenue.
According to edition.cnn.com officials have been loath to shut down the casinos of Macau, even when all other businesses have been forced to close.
This change is due to Macau facing its largest covid outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic.
Furthermore, the Chinese officials have made it clear to the casinos that they should not lay off their workers.
To put it into perspective, labor accounts for 20-25 % of operating costs, putting even more strain on the casino industry of Macau.
Casinos Are a Part of the World Economy
Lockdown will surely leave an impact on the economy of Macau and China, but it might cause an impact on the rest of the world as well.
In America, for instance, the parent companies of struggling Macau casinos have to pour money into the closed casinos, while bidding for new licenses in Macau.
However, it is a risk the US parent companies are willing to take, knowing that if the casinos of Macau fail, they will lose everything.
The covid lockdown in Macau shows once and for all that the casino industry is a part of the world economy, creating jobs for thousands of people and paying taxes to the benefit of everyone.
Thinking Out of the Box
In a crisis, one must think out of the box, coming up with new and better ideas. The casinos that have done well during covid are the ones who were able to adapt to the new reality.
Of course, it was far easier for online casinos to do so. Perhaps the use of online casino games can be the answer to the ongoing pandemic in Macau.
Here, the use of live dealer casino games could be a great substitute to gambling at the casino.
Read everything you need to know about live casino games here, and learn for yourself how they create a great alternative to the experience of going to the casino.
Live dealer games recreate the atmosphere of the casino in your home. As a result, online casino games became very popular during the pandemic, causing significant growth to the online gambling industry.
Meanwhile land-based casinos were struggling to get by due to the lockdown.
The Benefits of the Online Casino Industry
The crisis in Macau shows that casinos need to be as ready to adapt as any other business.
To survive, casinos must create an online alternative for those who can’t make it to the casino in person, or to make up for lost revenue when an unforeseen crisis forces the casinos to shut down.
At www.americancasinoguide.com you can find the best online casinos and see for yourself how the online gambling industry is thriving.
Online casinos are constantly creating new games, keeping the playing experience fun and exciting. This, too, is a quality of the online gambling industry, which the land-based casinos must adopt in order to keep players interested.
To ensure that nothing like this ever happens again, It is very likely that more and more land-based casinos will create online alternatives.
In Macau, having online alternatives would certainly have been a great help during the current lockdown of China.
