Recently, two landmark events have occurred in Macau's gaming industry. First, satellite casinos, which have existed for nearly half a century, collectively exited the stage by the end of 2025, becoming history. Second, close to 100,000 employees across the entire industry received widespread pay raises at the beginning of 2026. The Macau gaming industry delivered an impressive performance in 2025, with annual gaming revenue exceeding MOP 240 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.1%, creating the conditions for the six Macau integrated tourism and leisure enterprises to distribute employee bonuses and implement salary increases. "In Macau, these two sequentially occurring events outline the clear contours of the gaming industry during a period of deep transformation," said Feng Jiachao, Director of the Gaming Teaching and Research Centre at the University of Macau, in an interview. He indicated that Macau's gaming industry is shifting from a fragmented to a more concentrated structure, and the industry-wide pay raises signal corporate confidence in future development. This year's non-gaming investment assessments and international visitor numbers will become key indicators for observing the effectiveness of this industrial transformation.
The wave of salary increases covers nearly 100,000 employees. By mid-January 2026, all six Macau integrated tourism and leisure enterprises (commonly referred to as the gaming sector) had successively announced their bonus distribution and pay raise plans. Although the forms of bonus distribution varied slightly, they generally consisted of a one-time reward equivalent to approximately one month's salary. The salary increase plans demonstrated remarkable consistency: all companies uniformly raised salaries by MOP 500 for employees earning MOP 16,000 or less per month, while offering an approximate 2% raise for higher-paid staff earning more than MOP 16,000 per month. About 99% of frontline employees received raises, meaning this wave of increases will benefit nearly 100,000 workers. Regarding these raises, senior executives from the major gaming operators unanimously emphasized "team contribution" and "sharing the fruits of success."
Grant Chum, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of Sands China Ltd., stated that 2025 was a year of repeatedly setting new peaks for Sands China. Thanks to the team's exceptional collaboration and execution, 2025 was filled with major events, driving the group's cumulative visitor arrivals to surpass 1.1 billion. Notably, hosting the NBA China Games at the fully upgraded Venetian Arena propelled Macau's reputation as a "City of Sports" onto the globally watched stage. The company also continued to introduce high-quality "tourism+" events, hosting nearly 600 activities encompassing meetings, exhibitions, entertainment, sports, and culture and arts, further supporting Macau's development as a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure. Pansy Ho, Chairman and Executive Director of MGM China Holdings Limited, expressed that the company continuously enhances its products and services with innovative thinking and is very pleased to share the results of their collective efforts with everyone. As the new year begins, with the nation即将 embarking on its 15th Five-Year Plan, Macau will also usher in new development opportunities. MGM will, as always, firmly support the policies of the nation and the SAR government, joining hands with the team and all sectors to inject new momentum into Macau and jointly create a better future.
This move by Macau's gaming industry has attracted significant attention. "Although industry profits have not fully recovered to 2019 levels, companies have still chosen to raise salaries, demonstrating their social responsibility and confidence in future development," analyzed Feng Jiachao. He believes the pay raises have positive significance for boosting employee morale and industry stability. "Even a mere 2% raise is particularly commendable during this period," he added.
The comprehensive pay raises occur during a transitional phase for Macau's gaming industry. On December 30, 2025, the lights went out at Macau's last satellite casino, the Landmark Casino, marking the official exit from the historical stage of the satellite casino model that had existed for about half a century. Satellite casinos were once an important component of Macau's gaming industry. According to the amended "Legal System for the Operation of Casino Games of Fortune" in 2022, satellite casinos were granted a three-year transition period, which expired on December 31, 2025. The exit process for Macau's satellite casinos began in late July 2025, with the Emperor Palace Casino率先 ceasing operations on July 31. Over the following months, various satellite casinos concluded their businesses according to plan, culminating in the formal termination of operations at the Landmark Casino on December 31, 2025,宣告 the comprehensive end of the satellite casino era in Macau's gaming industry. The closure of all satellite casinos involved 5,600 local Macau employees. The closure of the final Landmark Casino attracted many citizens to witness the event, with numerous people live-streaming this historical moment.
During the exit process, several different处置 approaches emerged, with some venues showing potential for sustainable operation. Among them, the Kai Yuan Casino seamlessly transitioned to become a directly operated venue of SJM Resorts on the early morning of December 30, 2025. Meanwhile, the Mocha Kam Long, Mocha Inner Harbour, and Mocha San Va casinos have been继续 operated by the Melco联谊 management company starting January 1, 2026. Feng Jiachao pointed out that the cooperation model between gaming concessionaires and satellite casinos first appeared before the handover. Following Macau's return to China, and with the nation and globally strengthening financial regulations and combating money laundering, the gaming industry, possessing financial attributes, similarly requires持续强化 supervision to avoid irregular behavior and grey areas. The new "Legal System for the Operation of Casino Games of Fortune" strengthens the regulation of the gaming industry and clarifies the legal status and transition period for satellite casinos, providing a legal basis for their fate and continuation. "Most satellite casino owners failed to reach agreements with the concessionaire companies, ultimately choosing to exit," Feng noted, identifying this as a critical juncture for Macau's gaming industry's consolidation from fragmentation towards concentration.
In mid-2007, the opening of The Venetian Macao Resort introduced a completely new development model of integrated tourism and leisure resorts to Macau, subsequently altering the tourism consumption patterns and habits of visitors to Macau. This new model has been widely accepted, whereas the old model of "hotel + casino" relied upon by satellite casinos could not adapt to the changing demands of tourists. "Before 2007, about 90% of tourists primarily visited the Macau Peninsula, with only a minority engaging in integrated tourism activities in Taipa. However, with the rise of major integrated tourism resorts, the market structure gradually changed. Today, 70% to 80% of visitors to Macau first head to the Cotai Strip," Feng said.
As Macau increasingly integrates into the Greater Bay Area and the national development landscape, new requirements are being placed on the Macau SAR in areas such as social governance. Feng believes that after the orderly exit of satellite casinos scattered across different areas, facilities like casinos are concentrated in two main zones: the New Urban Zone and the Cotai Strip. This concentration helps Macau achieve a balance between social governance, economic development, and resident livelihoods, promoting the healthy and orderly development of the gaming industry and enabling residents to live and work in contentment. "Directly operated casinos by the gaming concessionaires still exist near the original satellite casino locations, generally just a street or two away, very close," Feng stated. These direct operations can provide gaming options for former customers, and the six concessionaires will also持续 strengthen promotional efforts and host various types of activities to attract tourists, driving steady growth in visitor numbers. He believes gaming revenue will maintain a稳健 upward trend alongside tourist growth,不受 the complete exit of satellite casinos.
In Feng Jiachao's view, the most unique advantage of Macau's gaming industry lies in its industrial cluster effect. Within an area of approximately 5.6 square kilometers in Cotai, about 20 integrated resort buildings are聚集, forming a rare global gaming industry cluster and a new competitive edge for Macau following the end of the satellite casino era. "Singapore has two integrated resorts but they are separate, Japan has only one, and the Philippines has four but they are very dispersed," Feng cited as examples, noting that only Macau has formed an有机 integration within walking distance.
The stable recovery of Macau's gaming industry benefits from record-high tourist arrivals. Data released by the Macau SAR government shows that Macau's tourism industry achieved a milestone breakthrough in 2025, with annual inbound tourists exceeding 40 million for the first time, a year-on-year increase of 14.7%. The total number of border crossings at all ports reached 235 million, a year-on-year rise of 9.8%, both setting new historical records. "Macau's tourism consumption is undergoing a deep transformation towards experiential,场景-based, and thematic offerings," said Wong Fai, Member of the Economic Development Council of the Macau SAR and President of the Innovative Association of Leisure Tourism Services. Against the backdrop of profound changes in the global tourism industry, tourists' travel patterns, consumption habits, and preferences have undergone significant shifts. To address development challenges in the new context, Macau's tourism industry is establishing the promotion of international visitor sources, optimization of tourist structure, and extension of visitor stay duration as its core development directions. To this end, Wong Fai believes that重点 strengthening coordination with airline networks and international markets, and deepening the "tourism+" cross-border integration strategy by organically combining diverse elements such as MICE, culture, and sports, can more widely and deeply extend the economic benefits of tourism to communities and SMEs, thereby systematically enhancing industrial resilience and striving to attract diverse tourist groups with varying consumption potentials and interests.
In the first three quarters of 2025, total non-gaming consumption by visitors to Macau reached MOP 58.25 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%. Thematic consumption centered around MICE, performances, and sports performed突出. The per capita consumption of tourists attending MICE events was approximately MOP 4,398, while those watching performances or sporting events spent around MOP 3,811 per person. Concurrently, major gaming operators have significantly increased their investments and activities in non-gaming areas. Sands China hosted nearly 600 MICE, entertainment, sports, and cultural activities in 2025, and MGM also stated it would continue to "inject new momentum into Macau."
"The end of satellite casinos and the industry-wide pay raises might seem contradictory, but they actually jointly point towards the structural transformation of Macau's gaming industry, which is undergoing structural adjustment," Feng Jiachao expressed. The exit of satellite casinos is an inevitable process in the development and strengthening of Macau's integrated tourism resort operational model. According to the new "Legal System for the Operation of Casino Games of Fortune," the six major concessionaires must fulfill their investment commitments in non-gaming elements. Feng透露 that 2026 will迎来 the first three-year assessment period, evaluating the implementation from 2023 to 2025.
The development of non-gaming elements also brings changes to the talent structure. Macau currently faces a shortage of relevant professional talent. Feng pointed out that the industry requires复合型人才 who understand both the local market and possess an international perspective, and Macau is currently in a brief phase of relying on external resources. Data shows that in the full year of 2024, Macau received 2,423,093 international tourists, a yearly increase of 66%. Based on Feng's observations, the number of international visitors in 2025 saw a significant increase compared to 2024, and further growth is expected in 2026. He believes that the 2026 non-gaming investment assessment and the持续增长 of international visitor numbers will become the key window for observing the effectiveness of the gaming industry's transformation.
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