男友太凶猛1v1高h,大地资源在线资源免费观看 ,人妻少妇精品视频二区,极度sm残忍bdsm变态

US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
Business / Industries

Macao casinos face total smoking ban

(Agencies) Updated: 2015-09-21 07:33

Macao casinos face total smoking ban

Display screens are shown at the gaming table inside a casino during the opening day of Sheraton Macao Hotel at the Sands Cotai Central in Macao. [Photo/IC]

Macao's casinos and gambling trip organizers are fuming over a proposed smoking ban there, while Singapore's puffing gamblers show why.

Smoking has been prohibited for nearly a year in Macao's mass gambling floors, with the exception of a handful of designated lounges, where visitors huddle around ashtrays during hurried gambling breaks.

In contrast, smokers can light up at gaming tables and slot machines on the bottom floor of Singapore's Marina Bay Sands casino. They can even stay seated while hostesses sell them packs of Marlboro or Dunhill cigarettes for S$17 ($12). A bill being considered by Macao legislators to fully outlaw smoking in casinos promises to set the city's 35 betting parlors further apart from rivals in Singapore and other Asian gaming destinations.

While a blanket ban would be a victory for public health, businesses in the special administrative region relying on Chinese mainland high-stakes gamblers say it will be another blow to casino operators.

So far, they have lost $113 billion in market value after Beijing launched an anti-corruption crackdown last year. "A full smoking ban will have a disastrous impact on Macao and VIP operators," said Kwok Chi-chung, president of Macao's Association of Gaming & Entertainment Promoters. "It's like adding hail to snow."

Gaming revenue in Macao is likely to tumble 30 percent in the three months after a complete ban is implemented, according to Kwok, whose group represents the middlemen who bring high-rollers to the world's largest gambling hub.

He may have reason to be worried. Revenue at Illinois casinos in the United States tumbled by more than 20 percent, or $400 million, and admissions dropped 12 percent after a smoking ban was introduced there, researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Missouri, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock found in a study published in 2010.

"State-wide smoking bans are the most significant regulations imposed on the casino gaming industry," they said.

Bans aren't always bad. Never smokers and former smokers are more likely to visit casinos if they go smoke-free, researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee reported at a conference in November.

The stakes are high. As the only Chinese city allowing commercial gambling, Macao reaped $44 billion in gambling revenue in 2014, seven times more than all of the casinos in the Las Vegas Strip.

Kwok's association in July petitioned the central government's Macao liaison office to urge the city government "not do the wrong thing" by making casinos smoke-free. It could take a year for Macao legislators to discuss the bill on smoking ban, Macao Business reported.

The fear is losing large-stake gamblers such as Zhu, a businessman from Shandong province, who said he would visit Macao less if smoking rooms were axed. The 46-year-old, who declined to give his full name, said he visits Macao once a month to gamble, packing about 5 million yuan ($784,000) for his latest trip.

Previous Page 1 2 Next Page

Hot Topics

Editor's Picks
...
主站蜘蛛池模板: 铁岭市| 永吉县| 屏山县| 开化县| 朝阳区| 章丘市| 东方市| 崇礼县| 密山市| 凭祥市| 黄平县| 陵水| 望奎县| 安阳县| 崇阳县| 南丹县| 武威市| 革吉县| 富源县| 海原县| 兴海县| 岳普湖县| 维西| 公安县| 商水县| 河西区| 阜新| 南丹县| 长乐市| 东海县| 定州市| 丰原市| 资兴市| 讷河市| 元氏县| 武威市| 武夷山市| 河曲县| 扎囊县| 淮安市| 绵阳市|