Macau fears overblown?, page-50

It's time to roll the dice on Macau again, says star Hong Kong fund manager John Ho of Janchor Partners.
After a six-year boom and bust in the gaming colony, casino operators will benefit from the rise of the mass market tourists from China that will deliver sustainable growth in cash flows, Mr Ho told the audience at the Hearts & Minds Investment conference on Friday.
The market capitalisation of Macau-listed gaming companies surged by seven times to US$180 billion, before falling 70 per cent over the past two years as the Chinese government cracked down in corruption.
This has seen revenues from "VIPs" more than halve to $US14 billion as the government cracked down wealthy Chinese using casinos for money laundering and to skirt capital controls.

But Mr Ho argued at that the mass market, or the "what goes on in Macau stays in Macau type", will embrace the colony as a tourist destination.

Mr Ho said there are about 300 million Chinese that are wealthy enough to visit Macau, of which only 25 million have visited the former Portuguese colony – implying a large population of untapped punters looking for a good time.
"In the next few years the business model is no longer about gambling – it's about enjoying an experience and the lifestyle."