Macau. For those of you who still don’t know this 30 square kilometers size Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, other than the references made in the Hollywood Movies “Ocean’s 13” and James Bond’s “Skyfall”, both mainly highlighting or implying its importance as one of the, or the most important gambling center(s) in the world, here is a small summary of its background, major characteristics and recent history facts.

The Gambling Industry started in 1962 (when Macau was still a Portuguese colony) and was under a monopoly until 2002, when the local government (Macau since the handover to the People’s Republic of China in 1999, is under the “one country, two systems” policy, thus China is only responsible for the military defense and foreign affairs in Macau) decided to open the market to other casino operators.

That decision, amongst other consequences, made the yearly visitors raise from 9.1 Million in 2000 to more than 30 Million in 2015, the population raise from 437 thousand in 2000 to 645 thousand in 2015, the Gross revenue from gaming and gambling raise from 10.5 Billion USD in 2007 (the year after the opening of the first two major casino resorts) to 28.33 Billion USD in 2015, the average selling prices of houses (mainly apartments) raise from One thousand USD per square meter in 2004 to 9.5 thousand USD in 2015 and consolidated the year after year Government surplus.

Although at a first glimpse these numbers seem easy to read, even considering the world financial crisis of 2008 which slightly affected Macau and mainly led to a “normal” deceleration of the growth of all the numbers above for approximately one year, a deeper look gives us a different view.

China’s anti-corruption campaign which started in 2013, is said to be the major reason for keeping the high-rollers away from Macau (who account for more than 50% of the gaming revenue), and this is said to be the main cause for the reduction of the gaming revenue. Yes, because in 2013 and 2014 the Gross revenue from gaming was of 45 Billion USD and 44 Billion USD respectively. And the houses average selling prices per square meter reached a maximum of 14 thousand USD in the 2nd quarter of 2014, due to the constant rise of the cost of living and the high levels of speculation until that date.

So the region faces many challenges; Economic challenges, as the short-term future serves many theories but less certainties, the constant inflation walks side by side with the current reduction of revenue and the diversification of the local economy is a must (Gaming revenues average more than 40% of the GDP); Private Development challenges, as the major industry is already too heavy to pull a hand break but still young to diversify and change strategies and the smaller companies must be prepared to provide better, more trendy and more competitive services, all facing the problem of the lack of resources in Macau; Government and Public challenges, as despite the current situation, the growth during the last decade demands a constant improvement of the quality of life imposed by a population that is educating itself and starts to request better healthcare, public facilities, education, services and housing.

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