Australia Casinos cash in on Chinese New Year

Since 2014, a crackdown on junkets has discouraged many Chinese gamblers from visiting local casinos in Macau. In turn, Australia casinos are hoping to cash in on that fact during the Chinese New Year by promoting a month worth of parties, fireworks, ethnic food markets and more.

The Chinese New Year began on Saturday, and several casinos in Australia are pulling out all the stops. Crown Melbourne, for example, is hosting Lunar New Year festivities all month, in conjunction with it’s 15^th anniversary celebration.

Over the next four weeks, visitors to the Australia casino can expect to observe a brilliant barrage of fireworks displays, accompanied by thematic music, dazzling light shows and more Chinese lanterns than you could possibly count. All along the promenade, Chinese food markets and parades are being held to entice visitors to partake in specialty cuisines.

Take a trip northeast to Star Sydney, and you’ll find similar celebrations taking place. The whole casino has been redecorated to mimic the ancient Chinese traditions of the Lunar New Year. At any moment, pop-up food markets, known as “lunar markets”, may appear, along with a host of lavishly adorned street performers.

Chinese New Year Huge for Australia Casinos

In the last few years, Asian VIPs have been flocking to Australia casinos. Affluent Chinese gamblers who once spent unfathomable amounts of money in Macau casinos, placing 6-figure bets without a care, are now drawn to the nearby casinos in Australia.

Since the Chinese government began its crackdown on corruption in its local casino industry, such VIPs have sought gambling solace in other locations. The result was a 25-month straight decline in revenue for Macau casinos that lasted right through mid 2016.

The situation has become so attuned for Australia’s casino operators that Crown Resorts upcoming property in Barangaroo – Crown Sydney – is being design entirely to accommodate Asian VIPs.

As any Aussie knows, pokies are the number one form of gambling for local punters. But the Crown Sydeny, once it opens as a 6-Star hotel and casino in 2020, won’t have a single poker machine on site.

Instead, plans for the Barangaroo casino call for an entire gaming floor packed with table games like baccarat. The idea is to attract wealthy bettors to the casino’s high stakes tables by providing an elite, luxury experience; one proffering so much opulence that it translates to a steady influx of Chinese VIPs.

Macau Casinos Bouncing Back?

It is worth noting, however, that while casinos in Australia are doing their best to entice Asian gamblers with all these Chinese New Year celebrations, the casinos in Macau aren’t exactly suffering anymore.

Many Macau casinos underwent a complete renovation last year that saw them transform from VIP junkets to more casual gambling destinations, redesigned to attract a global gambling market. And according to some analysts, even the Asian VIPs are working their way back into Macau.

Casinos along the Cotai Strip and beyond are fully booked for the duration of the Lunar New Year festivities. Macau is expecting to post it’s six straight month of increased revenue in February.

Conversely, Australia casino resorts experienced a 45% decline in revenue over the first 23 weeks of the 2016-17 fiscal year. Coincidence? Perhaps. But Crown Resorts’ decision to sell off most of its Macau stakes in Melco Crown might have been a bit too precipitant.