Blue Swan Daily – 22nd Feb, 2019
The strong rise in Chinese tourism over the past decade continued into 2018, with overall numbers up 13% to 1.4million. But for Crown Resorts they’re spending less – although there are no indicators yet from tourism bodies as to whether the non-gambling spenders are leaving less in Australia.
Summary:
- Chinese big spender gambling results in Australia are well down on last year according to Crown Casino’s 1H2019 financial year report;
- VIP turnover – mostly Chinese high rollers were down a whopping 12% year on year; in 1H2018, numbers rose 16%;
- Chinese gamblers are also finding more options closer to home with Cambodia’s port city of Sihanoukville among the new favourite destinations.
The high roller gambling number drop is consistent with a similar Jan-2019 drop in gambling spending in Macau, a favourite haunt for Chinese gamblers. Numbers may be down because Australia is having some high level policy differences with China, with suggestions of spying and a rejection of Huawei’s investment in Australia’s telecoms network. Read more..
