Gaming taxes collected by the Macau government rose 13.4 percent in the first three quarters, as Chinese tourists flocked to the city following the opening of its first Las Vegas style casino in two-and-a-half years.
Direct gaming taxes collected from the city's six licensed operators rose to 14.19 billion patacas (US$1.77 billion) in the first three quarters, compared with 12.51 billion patacas a year earlier, according to statistics released on the Financial Services Bureau Web site.
Casino companies have been investing in the former Portuguese colony since its government opened its gaming market to foreign operators, betting Chinese gamblers will flock to the only place casino gaming is legal in the country. Wynn Resorts Ltd launched a US$1.2 billion hotel-casino on Sept. 6, and Las Vegas Sands Corp opened the city's first Las-Vegas style casino in 2004.
On Thursday, a Hong Kong company became the first Asian firm to open a US-style casino in gambling haven Macau, fast becoming the Las Vegas of the east.
Starworld Hotel, the flagship of the Galaxy group, is the second Las Vegas-style hotel-casino complex to open in the territory. The first, the Wynn Macau was opened last month just metres away from Galaxy's towering new complex.
Macau's century-old gaming market was given a boost in 2001 when the removal of a 40-year gambling monopoly from tycoon Stanley Ho (
With annual gambling receipts expected to near US$7 billion by the end of the year, the city is already believed to have overtaken the earning power of the Las Vegas Strip's casinos.
Such growth -- in excess of 25 percent last year -- has been fuelled by a sudden surge in tourist arrivals since travel restrictions were lowered in China.
The number of visitors to Macau rose 14 percent during China's National Day holiday from Oct.1 to Oct. 7, according to government statistics. Wynn Macau resort took in about US$900 million in chip sales in its first 13 days of operation, the Las Vegas Sun said in an Oct. 1 report, quoting chairman Stephen Wynn.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS