The government of Macau has approved a little more than half of the total requests for smoking lounges in casinos that it received since two years ago.
Quoting a release from the Health Bureau, GGRAsia reported that only 86 out of the 155 applications, or about 55.5 percent of the total number of requests it received since 2014, were OK’d in the city state as of February 5.
There are 36 registered casinos in Macau applied for smoking lounges, but only 27 have been allowed at least one smoking lounge, the government document stated.
The health bureau did not mention the reason behind its modest approval rate, according to the news outlet. It also didn’t state how many smoking lounge requests are still pending review.
Two years ago, the government introduced a partial smoking ban that restricted smoking on casino main floors in the city state to the airport-style enclosed smoking lounges that do not have gaming tables or slot machines. Smoking cigarettes in VIP rooms are still allowed.
Macau officials, however, are committed to putting a stop to smoking in all casinos in the city state. The plan, which was announced in June 2015, mirrors Beijing efforts to reduce smoking in public places in the mainland to reduce health costs brought by the country’s 300 million smokers.
The government’s plan involved raising smoking-related fines from their current range of MOP 400-100,000 (US$50-$12,500) to MOP 1,500-200,000. According to the health bureau, a total of 46 people—41 of whom were tourists—were fined in January 2016 for smoking in smoke-free areas of casinos.
Consulting firm KPMG said a full smoking ban would result in negative chain effects for the city state. According to the research, high rollers will opt for alternative gaming destinations where smoking is allowed, leaving Macau with a lower VIP client visit. This, in turn, will cause Macau’s GDP to drop 16 percent, while reduced taxes could eventually impact the city’s public services, including health and education.
