A new set of rules that would ban slot machine parlours in residential areas in Macau is on track for the end of March.
The head of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, Manuel Joaquim, has said in a report by Macau Business that the government will work with the gaming industry to make such plans go ahead.
The details were apparently revealed in a written reply dated from three weeks ago to an enquiry from legislator Au Kam San.
However, it’s not as bad as it sounds. The procedure, first drafted by the government in 2007, will affect just two slot machine parlours: the SJM Yat Yuen Canidrome Slot Lounge in Fai Chi Kei and the Mocha Marina Plaza Parlour in Rua de Pequim.
In other Macau news, Sands China’s Board of Directors will meet on 31 January to consider payment of an interim dividend, the company has announced.
A report by Macau Business highlights this will be the first time Sands China has paid a dividend if it is approved.
Another recent announcement in Macau has seen Steve Wynn donate $250,000 to Macau’s Society for the Protection of Animals: Anima.
Head of Anima, Albano Martins, broke the news to TDM following the donation and also stated that as a result, Wynn was invited to become the group’s honorary chairman, which he has accepted.
Some more news in China’s gambling mecca that will no doubt be a positive influence on the city’s casino industry: hotel guest numbers are up.
In fact, the latest figures are estimated to see 2011 set new record for the number of hotel guests in China’s only legal-gambling city.
Local hotels and guesthouses welcomed 7.79 million guests in the first eleven months of 2011, that’s 0.3 more than that recorded for the whole of 2010, when the previous yearly record was set.
At the end of November, Macau had 22,300 rooms, up by 11.3% year-on-year, Macau Business reports. Five-star hotels also accounted for 63.5% of the overall supply.
