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The recent slowdown in China's economy was unlikely to have a significant impact on Chinese consumer demand for games in the Asia-Pacific, due to the huge number of people the Chinese industry has yet to reach.
Hakan Dagtas, vice president of game operations and marketing at Travelers International Hotel Group Inc., a casino operator in the Philippines, said.
"Some junket operators may suffer," the executive said, alluding to some recent contraction in VIP gambling volumes in the Macau market but also being "pretty optimistic" about the Chinese public market.
"We just need to do the right thing for consumers," Mr. Dagtas pointed out.
If the market segment is "analyzed" and "correct research is conducted" on Chinese companies, the executive said hewas "quite optimistic" about Chinese consumer business for the industry.
Mr. Dagtas was speaking at a panel session on the first day of the casino sector trade show and conference called G2E Asia @ the Philippines, the first version of a G2E branded event in the Philippines.
Travelers International is a venture of Alliance Global Group, a Philippine-listed conglomerate, and Genting Hong Kong Inc., a Hong Kong-listed casino cruise ship operator. Mr. Dagtas has hands-on experience working in Genting Hong Kong.
Travelers International operates the Resort World Manila casino complex near the international airport in the Philippine capital, where gaming conferences are being held. The bricks-and-mortar sector in the Philippines has seen double-digit growth in casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) over the past few years, gaming regulators have reported. Many investment analysts have said the play of Chinese visitors is a major factor in the expansion.
The executive said similar growth is likely in the Philippine market over the next three, four or five years.
Commenting on whether China's recent modest annual growth in gross domestic product could undercut the performance of the Asia-Pacific market, Dagtas noted that the United Nations Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimated that Chinese travelers were the most expendable overseas tourist sector in 2018.
Chinese people spent $277 billion on international tourism in 2018, according to UNWTO International Tourism Highlights 2019. According to a report released in March by the Chinese Academy of Tourism and the Chinese online travel service Ctrip.com , there were nearly 150 million overseas visits by Chinese travelers in 2018, up 14.7% year-on-year.
If that market solution is addressed "in the right way" by the gaming industry, Mr. Dagtas said he does not expect the Chinese economic downturn to have "a significant impact on [game] manufacturers or game operators."
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