Macau continues its efforts to diversify its industry and end its historic dependence on gambling. As these efforts progress, lawmakers are considering a ban on gambling ads.
Macau Wants to See How the Public Feels
Macau’s Economic and Technological Development Bureau has launched a formal public consultation into the matter to see how the public feels about proposed changes to the special administrative region’s advertising laws.
The consultation period will run from July 4 to August 2 and could potentially lead to a ban on gambling ads.
The broader probe will check the public’s opinions on six matters. These include mulled changes to advertising terms, higher advertising standards, regulation of new formats of advertising, improvements to the ad approval framework, regulatory improvements and changes to the penalties violators face.
Citizens Were Invited to Submit Their Opinions
According to Yau Yun Wah, director of the Economic and Technological Development Bureau, nothing has been set in stone yet. He emphasized that this consultation does not outline any certain decision and is more of an attempt to gauge the public’s opinion on the matter.
The Economic and Technological Development Bureau invited citizens to take part in the consultation and submit their feedback. The full consultation paper can be accessed both online and through certain public service centers.
In any case, it is way too early to predict what the impact of these consultations will be and whether they will lead to an actual ban on gambling ads. If they do, however, that would further Macau’s ongoing efforts to minimize its reliance on the gambling industry and develop new revenue streams and tourism drivers.
While the special administrative has been trying hard to make this shift happen, efforts so far have had mixed results at best. At the same time, analysts remain optimistic about the local gambling industry’s prospects despite recent headwinds.
MGM at the Front of Recovery
In other news, a recent report by Morningstar highlighted MGM China as one of the frontrunners in the Macau gaming sector. Despite the region’s fluctuations and lasting damage from the pandemic, MGM China’s aggressive expansion and operational improvements have cemented the company as one of the fastest-recovering competitors in the SAR.
This comes as Macau’s GGR continues to experience recovery, even though some of the earlier monthly results failed to reach analysts’ targets.