Gambling revenue rises 30 percent to $4.8 billion

Tuesday, March 8, 2005 | 9:21 a.m.

Macau's revenue from gambling rose 30 percent to 38.6 billion patacas ($4.84 billion) last year, thanks to the city's booming casino industry, the Standard newspaper said, citing figures released by the Macau government.

Visitors from China contributed 27 billion patacas to the economy, the Hong Kong-based, English-language newspaper said, making them the highest spending visitors.

New casinos opening in Macau last year included the $265 million Sands Macau, the first Las Vegas-style casino in Asia, which opened in May. Revenue from casinos is expected to account for about 95 percent of gambling revenue, the Standard said, with the remainder from horse racing and lotteries.

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