A top casino exec says Macau’s VIP gambling sector may not be dead forever but signs of a rebound are tough to spot at the moment.

On Wednesday, Las Vegas Sands president Rob Goldstein participated in a Q&A session at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2015 Gaming and Lodging Conference in New York. Goldstein said he didn’t have a whole lot of confidence in Macau’s VIP sector rebounding because “the junket model – for now – is broken.”

Goldstein observed that there’d been an “incredible 12-month cycle of pushback” against the Macau casino industry, including the smoking ban, new restrictions on entry visas, a crackdown on money movement and junket operators’ liquidity crunch.

Goldstein acknowledged that “cycles come and cycles go” but said it was “hard for me to see a catalyst to make VIP get strong again.” Goldstein believes Chinese consumer confidence – particularly among those in the upper economic tiers – has been badly shaken by the country’s recent stock market woes, the devaluation of the Chinese renminbi and plummeting real estate values.