China’s Macau is one of the hottest gambling spots in the world, but the “Las Vegas of Asia” has a faced big slowdown.

How bad? Gambling revenue fell 28.4 percent in October from the same period a year before. This marks the 17th consecutive month of decline, according to data released by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

On the positive side, October was notable for being the first month since January where gaming revenue fell at a rate below 30 percent.

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“The figure can be viewed as the beginning of a ‘less bad environment’, ” Vitaly Umansky, a gaming analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, wrote following the release of data.

“It’s a paradigm shift. Everyone realizes that the V.I.P. business has gone through a structural decline, and it’s not coming back, and it’s definitely not coming back to the way it was before.”

Bloomberg reported other positive signs in October, thanks to 327,186 visitors who came to Macau during the first two days of Golden Week holiday. This represents a 13.4% increase when compared to the same period in 2014 – but concerns still linger.

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Gambling tourism is Macau’s biggest source of revenue, making up about 50% of the economy. For the most part it’s been boom time –as Macau casinos have generated seven times more gambling revenues than the Las Vegas strip since 2007. 

Part of the problem is due to the Chinese economic slowdown. Coupled with the government crackdown on corruption, Macau has been hard hit.

Even more challenging to the once flourishing gaming industry are new Chinese policies that are set to change the entire gambling landscape.

Shifting Times

Beijing has made it plainly clear to the Macau government and casino operators that they want a shift from catering to VIP gamblers to promoting more family-oriented services.

A few weeks before Studio City casino opened in October, the Macau government announced that it would initially be permitted to run only 200 tables —half what was originally planned by the casino operators.

Macau Casino Las Vegas of AsiaThis is a big hit, especially for Macau, where casinos garner 95 percent of their gambling revenue from table players, unlike Las Vegas where slots are the big money maker and table play brings in roughly 50 percent of total gambling revenue.

“In the coming year, the development of Macau will still be affected by the complicated and ever-changing external environment,” said Fernando Chui Sai, Macau Chief Executive in a statement.

“We believe opportunities always come with challenges. We are pleased that China’s Thirteenth Five-Year Plan clearly states the aim of fully leveraging Macau’s unique advantages, coupled with elevating Macau’s position and functions in national economic development, and opening up policy.”

Several new casinos are slated to open on the Cotai strip in the coming years –many wondering if compliance with the government’s new diversification policy, will allow them to generate the massive revenues that Macau enjoyed when catering VIP gamblers.

“It’s a paradigm shift,” said Umansky, in an interview with the New York Times.

“Everyone realizes that the V.I.P. business has gone through a structural decline, and it’s not coming back, and it’s definitely not coming back to the way it was before.”

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