Macau casinos face long road to recovery

China’s national day holiday brought little joy to Macau. Despite eased travel restrictions, Macau faces a slow recovery from Covid-19, with gaming revenue barely reaching 15% of 2019 levels. An amorphous threat from Beijing to “blacklist” overseas casino destinations further clouds the regional gambling outlook.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming, a contributor to Forbes, columnist/correspondent for Asia Times, and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.

Top Cambodia casino thinks bigger

NagaCorp plans to build the tallest building in Phnom Penh with a sky high swimming pool as part of a $3.5 billion expansion of its NagaWorld complex that will catapult it into the top rank of the world’s integrated resorts. Plans for Naga3 are going forward as the Cambodian capital’s only casino reopens with Covid-19 safeguards, relying on the city’s burgeoning resident Chinese business community to fuel play as international travel remains at a trickle.

Totally globalized native New Yorker and former broadcast news producer Muhammad Cohen is a editor at large for Inside Asian Gaming, contributor to Forbes, columnist/correspondent for Asia Times, and author of Hong Kong On Air, a novel set in his adopted hometown during the 1997 handover about television news, love, betrayal, high finance, and cheap lingerie. See his bio, online archive and more at www.muhammadcohen.com; follow him on Facebook and Twitter @MuhammadCohen.