China's senior officials have recently intensified their crackdown on cross-border gambling, employing judicial severe punishments and inter-departmental collaboration to fortify defenses and protect social and financial security; meanwhile, the average price of hotels in Macau has declined, but the tourism and gambling sectors continue to thrive, showing a "price drop, volume stable" healthy trend. The dynamics of the two regions highlight the regulatory direction and market adaptation of the gambling industry, with relevant compliance cases and market analysis available for reference on the PASA official website.
China's Crackdown on Cross-Border Gambling: Judicial Severe Punishment + Collaborative Enforcement Full Force
China adopts "precise strikes, long-term governance" as its core, launching multiple measures to rectify cross-border gambling:
Judicial Level: Heavy penalties for core involved personnel
Clear penalty guidance: The Supreme People's Court demands severe punishment for organizers of cross-border gambling, key members, and repeat offenders, especially those involved in violent crimes;
Typical case warning: A gambling gang leader in Macau, Mr. Wu, by operating, enabled domestic residents to profit over 300 million RMB (approximately 41.22 million USD), causing a significant outflow of funds, and was sentenced to 6 years in prison, with other gang members receiving sentences of 30 to 36 months;
Exposing disguises: Beware of gambling activities disguised as "tourism," which not only lead to financial losses and family breakdowns but may also breed violent crimes, with typical cases having occurred in Guangxi.
Collaborative Level: Multi-dimensional dense prevention network
Top-level deployment advancement: A national video conference clarified "reject isolated actions, strengthen collaborative combat," focusing on criminal networks, core fugitives, and complex cases, precisely dismantling gang structures and blocking financial flows;
Departmental linkage upgrade: Improve organizational structures, enhance professional capabilities, promote data sharing, optimize inter-departmental collaboration mechanisms, and address the dynamic threats of online platforms and transnational crime groups;
International cooperation efforts: Foreign Minister Wang Yi calls on Southeast Asian countries to strengthen collaboration to jointly combat online gambling and telecommunications fraud, focusing on controlling related crimes such as human trafficking within the region, and deepening law enforcement coordination with ASEAN member states.
Macau Hotels and Tourism: Price Drop, Volume Stable, Gambling and Visitor Flow Both Thriving
While the Macau hotel market adjusts prices, visitor flow and gambling revenue continue to rise, balancing market supply and demand:
Price Adjustment: All hotel categories have seen declines
December's overall average price decreased by 4.7% year-on-year, with five-star hotels showing the most significant drop (6.2%), averaging about 1391 Macau Patacas;
Three-star hotels fell by 6.4%, averaging about 949 Macau Patacas; four-star hotels fell by 3.6%, averaging about 1131 Macau Patacas;
The annual average price was 1353 Macau Patacas (year-on-year -3.5%), with five-star hotels averaging 1513 Macau Patacas for the year (year-on-year -5%), still below the 2019 level.
Visitor and Gambling Performance: Strong Momentum
December welcomed over 3.58 million visitors (year-on-year +17.8%), including 2.1 million day-trippers (+23%), and 1.47 million overnight visitors (+10.9%);
The annual visitor count reached 40.06 million (year-on-year +14.7%), with day visitor growth at 24.6% and overnight visitor growth at 3.1%;
December's gross gambling revenue was 20.89 billion Macau Patacas (year-on-year +14.8%), the highest post-pandemic for the same period, with tourism and gambling jointly powering forward.
Market Structure: High-end Supply Dominates
Five-star hotels account for nearly 60% of the total room supply, about 26,000 rooms (year-on-year +5.4%), mostly concentrated in integrated resorts, significantly influencing market pricing;
The annual hotel occupancy rate was 93.7% (year-on-year +1.6 percentage points), with five-star hotels at 94.5% (year-on-year +1.8 percentage points), and three-star hotels at about 97%, indicating a healthy supply-demand pattern.
Industry Trends: Compliance as the Basis, Market Dynamics Adapt
The development trends of the two regions reflect the core logic of the gambling industry's growth:
Regulatory direction is clear: China strengthens the crackdown on cross-border gambling, conveying a "zero tolerance" message, pushing the industry towards compliance and standardization, protecting public interests and national financial security;
Market self-regulation: Macau hotel price adjustments are the result of industry competition and post-pandemic tourism model adjustments, "improved cost-effectiveness" further drives visitor flow, achieving a dynamic balance of volume and price;
Healthy development path: Whether it's cross-border crackdowns or local market adaptation, both revolve around "risk control + demand matching," laying the foundation for the industry's long-term healthy development.
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This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leaders" gambling industry news channel:https://t.me/pasa_news
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