Calvinayre.com is back in Macau, the center for Asian gaming and entertainment, for the biggest industry event in the region. The 12th annual G2E Asia opened at the Venetian Macau on Tuesday, attracting thousands of visitors from over 90 countries. Attendees are expected to triple in numbers, reaching up to 15,000 over the next three days.
G2E prides itself with serving new networking innovations to over 200 exhibitors and almost 2,000 senior executives this year. The biggest gaming expo continues to be the central marketplace for top business solutions and latest technologies in Asia.
During the opening ceremony, Stacey Papadopoulos, general counsel and SVP for Industry Services of American Gaming Association, welcomed guests and dignitaries. In her speech, Papadopoulos shared how G2E Asia has become a platform for providing informative educational content, fostering new relationships and opening new opportunities.
Papadopoulus was later joined by Hu Wei, president of Reed Exhibitions, for the lion eye dotting ceremony on stage, which officially opened the three-day event.
Lawrence Ho, chairman and CEO of Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited, made a keynote speech before hundreds of attendees earlier that day. In his keynote address, Ho spoke highly of Chinese consumers and Melco’s confidence in their vision and taste.
Ho said Asian customers are the premiere clientele and are always looking for a unique, high-quality experience, noting that Macau doesn’t need to replicate what works in the West, and although, casino is always going to be homogeneous product, innovation is what will drive them forward.
Macau’s 21-consecutive month growth makes it an attractive model to other Asian markets. Despite this increasing economic power, the industry’s future in Asia will go beyond Macau and gaming.
Ho pointed out the massively underutilized market—Japan. In 2017, there are 33 million CH customers in Macau and 27 million in the entirety of Japan. This gives a huge opportunity for operators such as Melco to set up gaming and entertainment businesses in the country.
