G2E Asia Focuses on Resort Experience Beyond Gaming

As the global gaming industry evolves, and a new generation of gamblers come of age, Asian countries are seeing the benefits of trying to entice more people to resorts, and are using Las Vegas as a blueprint on how to do it.

The Global Gaming Expo Asia got underway this week at the Venetian Macao. Organizers expect this year’s event to draw nearly 12,000 attendees from nearly 80 countries and other gambling jurisdictions.

In Las Vegas since 2001, and in Macau since 2007, G2E events attract industry insiders and casino executives who come to learn about the latest trends and products driving their business. G2E Asia has added 20 percent more space for vendors. About a third of the exhibitors are presenting for the first time.

The buzz this year is all about the role of non-gaming activities in creating a holistic resort experiences, and perhaps more important, non-gambling revenues.

Macau has seen its previously explosive  in recent years, but elsewhere in Asia, casino resorts continue to proliferate.

The Macau government called on the gaming industry last year to increase more varied visitor attractions. And one of the trends G2E Asia wants to capitalize on is a desire to appeal to more tourists who may not have a heavy interest in gambling.

Macau instituted a Five-Year Development Plan last year with the goal of the gaming industry having non-gaming revenue at least nine percent of operators total income by 2020.

Convention officials responded by introducing an Integrated Resort Experience section to the conference and trade show this year.

The keynote speaker at G2E Asia came from Francis Lui, vice chairman of Galaxy Entertainment. His company recently partnered with Monte Carlo’s Société des Bains de Mer to operate and develop Integrated Resort projects in the Asia-Pacific region. His address was titled, “Working Together to Ensure Macau Remains Relevant.”

Resorts in Asia have already begun to learn from their Las Vegas counterparts. They are already offering more restaurant options, and have added thrill rides, nightclubs, and other non-gaming entertainment bars.

Macau facilities have already seen double-digit increases in non-gaming revenue last year. , for example, reported a 13 percent increase in revenue from non-gaming in 2016, which gave the previously bustling casino on the Cotai Strip a much needed boost.

With a message to think outside the gambling box prominent at G2E 2016 in Las Vegas and G2E Asia 2017, casino executives around the world are starting to accept these ideas as essential to their future gaming and non-gaming business.