New Smoking Ban to Be Implemented at Macau Casinos

55% of Macau casino workers unwilling to work in smoky VIP rooms

Macau, the biggest and most popular gaming hub in the world, is going to be implementing a new smoking ban at its casinos this fall. According to the Macau Daily Times, the Macau Health Bureau announced that the full smoking ban is expected to come into effect on October 6, 2014.

Reports say that there will be specific rooms for smokers within the premises of casinos, but there will not be any gambling tables or machines. In a statement, the Health Bureau said:

“The ban will clearly separate smokers from non-smokers and it will reduce the conflict which results from the implementation of the law.”

In 2012, a law against smoking in Macau casinos was partially implemented, but there were thousands of violations. Some casinos moved around tables and made some changes to meet the needs of high roller players that smoke. The Macau government believes that the new smoking ban would get rid of the problem for good. However, there are conflicting reports saying that smoking will not be banned in VIP rooms, the places were the most of Macau’s revenue is said to be generated.

Workers Unwilling to Work in Smoking Rooms

The smoky rooms at Macau casinos aren’t the best place to work in for many reasons and a recent survey has confirmed this belief. The survey commissioned by the Macau Health Bureau and conducted by the University of Macau has revealed that more than 55 percent of the workers at Macau casinos don’t want to work in smoky VIP rooms.

The University of Macau interviewed 1,031 casino workers on the streets last week and found that 12.7 percent of the respondents would have no problems working in smoky VIP rooms if they get higher salaries. Nothing can change one’s mind than the allure of more money.

Over 90 percent of the interviewed casino workers liked the plans of the government to set up smoking rooms in the casinos that would have no gaming equipment. But respondents were divided in option when asked whether the smoking areas would improve air quality inside casinos. 36 percent of them said that they believe it would, while 45 percent don’t think that the overall air quality would improve.

Since the beginning of 2014, the Macau government has conducted about 100,000 inspections that resulted in fining a total of 2,846 people who hadn’t abided by casino rules.

According to statistics, China is home to a third of the world’s smokers and 25 percent of the population in the state smokes.

Macau’s Gambling Revenue Increases to $45 billion in 2013

Compared to the year before, Macau’s gambling revenue increased to 18.6 percent and produced a record of $45 billion in 2013, confirming the place as the largest gaming hub in the world. According to government figures, the gaming revenues jumped to 360.75 billion patacas in 2013 from 304.14 billion patacas in 2012. It is up to see whether the new smoking ban will change the figures in future.