Macau, the world's largest gambling center, is located just an hour away by ferry from mainland China. The world's largest casino brands, such as Las Vegas Sands Corporation, MGM Resorts International, and Wynn Resorts Ltd, are building billion-dollar casinos in Macau, generating a large portion of their revenue from the country's gambling industry.
Over the past 12 months, these gambling facilities have suffered severe losses from anti-corruption crackdowns imposed on Macau casinos. The government also implemented a number of restrictions in 2014, including a smoking ban and reducing the number of visas granted to tourists in mainland China. Casino shares fell substantially as casinos reported a shortage of VIP gamblers responsible for generating more than 50% of Macau casino revenue.
The Macau government recently announced changes to its visa policy and eased rules allowing mainland Chinese tourists to stay in Macau for a total of seven days. The previous visa policy allowed mainland Chinese tourists to stay only for up to five days and to enter Macau twice every 60 days. The new policy will allow mainland Chinese tourists to visit Macau twice every 30 days.
The government decided to revise visa rules to encourage mainland Chinese to start visiting casinos in Macau once again. The small relaxation of visa rules has had a huge impact on casino stocks as markets have reacted positively to Macau's new visa policy. Las Vegas Sands, the world's largest gambling company, rose 4.1% to $52.17, MGM Resorts rose 3.3% to $18.23 and Wynn Resorts shares rose 3.9% to $97.62. 슬롯
UBS Securities analyst Anthony Wong said in a statement: "High frequency gamblers across sections can now visit twice every 30 days and twice every 60 days. It may also suggest that current demand has reached a level where the government feels it needs to take measures to prevent further declines."
Casinos in Macau have been under heavy anti-corruption crackdowns over the past 18 months, with mainland Chinese gamblers a major target of anti-corruption operations. As a result, many gamblers in mainland China have stopped visiting Macau and casino revenues have plummeted. The easing of visa rules is the first in 18 months since the Macau government took steps in favor of the country's gambling industry, and casino operators hope to introduce a more favorable gambling policy in the near future.