Macau junket announces VIP room closure, more on the way

Monday 1st of February 2016

Gambling junket operator Cali Group has reportedly closed two of its four VIP gaming rooms in Macau in order to shift resources to the Philippines, according to local media.

The gaming association, Forefront of Macau Gaming (FMG), quoted by Macau Business Daily, said that the junket’s VIP gaming rooms at the Grand Lisboa and City of Dreams closed on Jan. 31.

Only the VIP rooms at the Galaxy Macau and MGM Macau remain, according to FMG. Employees of the operator have been assigned to work in the Philippines, the gaming union added.

President of the Association of Gaming and Entertainment Promoters of Macau, Kwok Chi Chung, confirmed the closure of the VIP rooms on Feb. 1.

“As I know, the Cali Group has indeed closed two of its VIP rooms in the city. However, they will still continue their operations in Macau. On the other hand, they have allocated part of their resources to overseas… which is the Philippines,” Kwok said.

Kwok believes more VIP room closures are on the way. “The current situation is like the aftershocks following an earthquake. After some time, some VIP rooms may have seen the number of customers that they receive is not enough to support their operations. As such, they may prefer shifting some of their resources and focuses from Macau to other places in order to decrease their operational costs here,” he said.

Kwok also added that the larger-scale VIP rooms may find the most difficulties in adapting to the downturn. “It is not necessary that smaller rooms are always the ones shutting down their businesses. It depends on how these companies manage their finances. After all, their operations get worse due to having given out too many loans before. Amid the downturn, it is difficult for them to chase up the debts, so their capital flow is affected,” he explained.

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