The amusement industry may be a winner in the current bidding process for the relicensing of casinos in Macau, China.
Six casino licenses in Macau are all up for renewal at the end of this year, in a bidding process that now has a seventh big name throwing its hat into the ring.
Genting Malaysia, a casino operator of some note, also the operator of a major theme park in the Genting Highlands Resort of Malaysia, has applied for a licence.
With seven applicants and only six licenses, the pressure is on to see who can come up with the best deal for the Macau authorities. All six have suffered badly in the past two years, with income decimated by the closure of the territory’s border with mainland China through the pandemic.
But they have to put their hand into their pockets to come up with fresh, specifically non-gaming proposals for the regulators. The brief that they were originally given was that they had to add value to Macau, in terms of widening its attraction to tourism and theme parks were actually brought into the reckoning early on.
The latest background is that what they have put on to the table so far has not satisfied the government. The applicants are going to have to up their game if they are to win one of the licenses and theme parks fit neatly into the scenario
