After the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ, for its Portuguese acronym) revealed that the number of junkets in the city had fallen for the sixth consecutive year, it appears that things could get even worse. The head of a junket-sector trade body told GGRAsia that there could be a continued decline of the junkets throughout the year.

The individual, Kwok Chi Chung, pointed out that a number of small- and mid-sized junkets face significant challenges to their operations and could consider completely exiting the VIP gaming market, one of the fundamental markets to Macau’s gambling success. Kwok is the president of the Macau Association of Gaming and Entertainment Promoters, which represents the majority of the local junket market.

In a phone interview with the media outlet, Kwok stated, “In future we may see even fewer licensed junkets, because the operating environment now gets tougher – especially for those small- and mid-sized junkets.”

He added, “Some of the operational difficulties of these [small- and mid-sized junkets] stem from more challenges met in collecting [gambling] debts, or simply the quality of their clientele is not good. So they find it difficult to meet the [revenue] target imposed by casino operators.”