2013 has been a robust year for Macau’s VIP market. Now, there are numbers to prove it.
According to the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, the city’s casinos reported MOP57.8 billion ($7.2 billion) in gross gaming revenue from its VIP market between January and March. That number represented a 9.8 percent increase compared from its numbers in the first quarter of 2012.
Taking it into proper context, in the previous quarter (4Q of 2012), the VIP market’s gross gaming revenue “only” increased by 2.9 percent compared to its 4Q of 2011 figures.
Earlier this month, Wells Fargo reported that the city’s VIP market earned MOP21.8 billion in the month of March alone, accounting for almost half of the gross gaming revenue the gambling destination has earned in the first three months of the year. March also became the first month in the year that reported a double-digit growth in VIP casino gross revenues when it earned MOP31.8 billion ($3.9 billion) in the month, 25.4 percent more than it earned in the same time a year ago.
While those numbers do strengthen the notion that VIPs and high rollers are spending more and more in their gambling excursions in Macau, the market share paints a different picture as VIP revenue continued to lose market share to mass gaming revenue. The decline is marginal at best with shares in 1Q 2013 accounting for 67.79 percent compared to 67.84 percent in the previous quarter.
Ultimately, the real important number in all of this is the overall gross gaming revenue Macau’s casinos earned in the first quarter of 2013. To that extent, the MOP85.3 billion ($10.66 billion) in gross gaming revenue represents a 14.8 percent increase from its numbers in the first quarter of 2012.
