{"id":29923,"date":"2015-07-16T13:01:00","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T20:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=29923"},"modified":"2015-07-16T13:01:00","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T20:01:00","slug":"macau-could-soften-casino-smoking-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-could-soften-casino-smoking-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Macau Could Soften Casino Smoking Ban"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Macau
Macau casinos are hoping that the local government will ease a proposed smoking ban on casino floors. (Image: AP Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Macau casinos may be having a rough year, but that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re down and out.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still a lot of money flowing through the casinos of the Chinese territory, which means that every piece of good news is cause for celebration for many who have their eye on the Macau gaming industry.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why stocks for casino operators in Hong Kong surged in Monday trading, as word spread that the Macau government might be pulling back somewhat on their plan to ban smoking on mass market gaming floors.<\/p>\n

The move would be a huge coup for casino owners, as there have been fears that business could continue to tumble if smoking rooms were prohibited in the gambling halls.<\/p>\n

Smoking Could Be Allowed if Health Concerns Met<\/b><\/h2>\n

According to Macau Business, the government may be amenable to keeping smoking rooms in place should the casinos be able to prove that the heath of employees and customers had been protected from any harm the smoke might cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome legislators seem very confident about establishing smoking lounges that can scientifically and effectively prevent the health of gaming workers and tourists from being affected by tobacco,\u201d said Secretary of Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That would be a pull back from the initial word out of Macau\u2019s government, which would have banned both smoking lounges and smoking in VIP areas.<\/p>\n

Many industry officials feared that such a move would have been another blow to gambling revenues, which have already been suffering as a result of a corruption crackdown by the Chinese government.<\/p>\n

Junkets Threatened Pullout if Ban Implemented<\/b><\/h2>\n

The casinos weren\u2019t the only ones predicting trouble if a full smoking ban was put into effect, either.<\/p>\n

The Macau<\/a> Junket Operations Association threatened to stop servicing Macau casinos if a ban was put into place that would cut into their critical VIP business.<\/p>\n

Association president Kwok Chi Chung said that most VIP gamblers were also smokers, and as such, Macau\u2019s VIP gaming rooms would lose much of their client base if a full ban were to go into effect.<\/p>\n

Analysts are also predicting a hit to the market if the smoking ban is implemented.<\/p>\n

According to a study commissioned by the city\u2019s casino operators and later cited by Deutsche Bank AG, VIP gamblers would cut their trips to Macau by 17 percent and likely stay for less time when they did visit if they were not allowed to smoke in casinos.<\/p>\n

According to Bloomberg.com, Wynn Macau, Sands<\/a> China, and Galaxy Entertainment all saw their stock prices increase by about five percent after the story of a potential loosening of smoking restrictions broke.<\/p>\n

Still, it is unclear just how easy it will be for casinos to receive exemptions for their smoking rooms. In fact, despite the story, it isn\u2019t even certain that there will be any substantive changes to the bill at all.<\/p>\n

The Macau Legislative Assembly overwhelmingly approved the first reading of the anti-smoking bill, approving it by a 26-2 vote.<\/p>\n

That would suggest that no changes need to be made in order to secure final passage of the legislation, and there is no word as to exactly how many legislators would like to see the ban language softened.<\/p>\n

Even if the ban is eased, there\u2019s no guarantee it would ultimately provide relief to Macau\u2019s casinos.<\/p>\n

There are a variety of issues plaguing the local gambling industry, including a sluggish Chinese economy, the continued anti-corruption campaign from Beijing, and what appears to be too much gambling supply even for the seemingly endless demand for gaming in Macau.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Macau casinos may be having a rough year, but that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re down and out. There\u2019s still a lot of money flowing through the casinos of the Chinese territory, which means that every piece of good news is cause for celebration for many who have their eye on the Macau gaming industry. That\u2019s why […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":29924,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,13,18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMacau Could Soften Casino Smoking Ban<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Macau official suggested that a planned smoking ban for casinos could be less stringent than previously thought, sending gaming stocks rising.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Macau Could Soften Casino Smoking Ban\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Macau official suggested that a planned smoking ban for casinos could be less stringent than previously thought, sending gaming stocks rising.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-could-soften-casino-smoking-ban\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-16T20:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/hong-kong-wynn-macaujpg-01af52f3d0398852.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"453\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-could-soften-casino-smoking-ban\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-could-soften-casino-smoking-ban\/\",\"name\":\"Macau Could Soften Casino Smoking Ban\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-could-soften-casino-smoking-ban\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-could-soften-casino-smoking-ban\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/hong-kong-wynn-macaujpg-01af52f3d0398852.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-16T20:01:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-16T20:01:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"A Macau official suggested that a planned smoking ban for casinos could be less stringent than previously thought, sending gaming stocks rising.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-could-soften-casino-smoking-ban\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-could-soften-casino-smoking-ban\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/macau-could-soften-casino-smoking-ban\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/hong-kong-wynn-macaujpg-01af52f3d0398852.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/hong-kong-wynn-macaujpg-01af52f3d0398852.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":453,\"caption\":\"Macau casinos are hoping that the local government will ease a proposed smoking ban on casino floors. 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