在线国产一区二区_成人黄色片在线观看_国产成人免费_日韩精品免费在线视频_亚洲精品美女久久_欧美一级免费在线观看

US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
Business / Industries

Macao casinos face total smoking ban

(Agencies) Updated: 2015-09-21 07:33

Macao casinos face total smoking ban

Display screens are shown at the gaming table inside a casino during the opening day of Sheraton Macao Hotel at the Sands Cotai Central in Macao. [Photo/IC]

Macao's casinos and gambling trip organizers are fuming over a proposed smoking ban there, while Singapore's puffing gamblers show why.

Smoking has been prohibited for nearly a year in Macao's mass gambling floors, with the exception of a handful of designated lounges, where visitors huddle around ashtrays during hurried gambling breaks.

In contrast, smokers can light up at gaming tables and slot machines on the bottom floor of Singapore's Marina Bay Sands casino. They can even stay seated while hostesses sell them packs of Marlboro or Dunhill cigarettes for S$17 ($12). A bill being considered by Macao legislators to fully outlaw smoking in casinos promises to set the city's 35 betting parlors further apart from rivals in Singapore and other Asian gaming destinations.

While a blanket ban would be a victory for public health, businesses in the special administrative region relying on Chinese mainland high-stakes gamblers say it will be another blow to casino operators.

So far, they have lost $113 billion in market value after Beijing launched an anti-corruption crackdown last year. "A full smoking ban will have a disastrous impact on Macao and VIP operators," said Kwok Chi-chung, president of Macao's Association of Gaming & Entertainment Promoters. "It's like adding hail to snow."

Gaming revenue in Macao is likely to tumble 30 percent in the three months after a complete ban is implemented, according to Kwok, whose group represents the middlemen who bring high-rollers to the world's largest gambling hub.

He may have reason to be worried. Revenue at Illinois casinos in the United States tumbled by more than 20 percent, or $400 million, and admissions dropped 12 percent after a smoking ban was introduced there, researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Missouri, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock found in a study published in 2010.

"State-wide smoking bans are the most significant regulations imposed on the casino gaming industry," they said.

Bans aren't always bad. Never smokers and former smokers are more likely to visit casinos if they go smoke-free, researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee reported at a conference in November.

The stakes are high. As the only Chinese city allowing commercial gambling, Macao reaped $44 billion in gambling revenue in 2014, seven times more than all of the casinos in the Las Vegas Strip.

Kwok's association in July petitioned the central government's Macao liaison office to urge the city government "not do the wrong thing" by making casinos smoke-free. It could take a year for Macao legislators to discuss the bill on smoking ban, Macao Business reported.

The fear is losing large-stake gamblers such as Zhu, a businessman from Shandong province, who said he would visit Macao less if smoking rooms were axed. The 46-year-old, who declined to give his full name, said he visits Macao once a month to gamble, packing about 5 million yuan ($784,000) for his latest trip.

Previous Page 1 2 Next Page

Hot Topics

Editor's Picks
...
主站蜘蛛池模板: 91欧美激情一区二区三区成人 | 九九天堂 | 四虎海外 | 成人中文字幕在线观看 | 午夜伦理福利 | 国产欧美自拍 | 黄色片视频免费 | 超碰在线观看免费版 | 毛片网站免费 | 国产色自拍 | 日本精品视频 | 成人午夜av | 午夜激情网 | 中文字幕免费在线看线人动作大片 | 免费不卡av | 制中文字幕音影 | 波多野一区 | 亚洲欧美精品一区 | 一级片大全| 天堂91 | 最新av在线播放 | 欧美国产精品一区二区 | 午夜精品久久久久 | 黄视频在线播放 | 久久精品久久久 | 色哟哟一区二区 | 99久久久精品 | 人人超碰人人 | 天天草天天 | 午夜免费av | 岛国精品在线播放 | 国产乱码一区二区 | 国产黄a三级三级看三级 | 超碰av在线 | 免费的黄色网址 | 日韩视频免费看 | 五月婷婷激情 | 亚洲成人日韩 | 日韩在线免费观看视频 | 久久精品欧美 | 久久久精品一区二区三区 |