Clutching a Dior handbag and wearing a jacket from French designer Ami, Jacky Chen, who works in real estate in Shenzhen, came to Macau to eat, relax and gamble.
“People will spend where they need to spend,” he said from outside the newly opened Londoner resort — a labyrinthine edifice in the style of the Palace of Westminster containing several hotels and a 351,000 sq ft of gambling space. He added that he had just made a small winning on a bet of about HK$5,000 (US$640).
Millions of tourists like Chen are returning to Macau, driving a recovery for its casinos after years of strict Covid-19 controls and a Beijing-led crackdown induced a slump that had some in the city fretting over its future as the world’s largest gambling hub. Chen exemplifies not just the city’s recovery but also a shift in Macau’s clientele from high rollers to mass-market gamblers.