3,000 delegates descend upon G2EAsia

Reed Exhibitions and the American Gaming Association have nearly doubled the number of delegates attending this year's Global Gaming Expo Asia (G2EAsia). The gaming industry show got underway today with an estimated 3,000 delegates and 80 exhibitors, up from just 1,800 attendees last year. Pansy Ho and Terry Lanni of MGM and Lawrence Ho of MELCO-PBL were among this year's high-profile visitors.

The president and CEO of the AGA, Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., forecasts next year's G2EAsia will be three to four times larger at the Venetian Macao which can offer larger convention facilities. G2EAsia is growing alongside Macau's gaming boom, which Deutsche Bank's Andrew Zarnett likened to "growth on steroids".

Innovative gaming technology and slot machines are important growth areas for Macau's gaming industry according to Marcus Prater, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Bally Technologies.

"In the U.S., slots bring in 60 - 65 per cent of revenues in the U.S., versus just 3 - 5 per cent here," Prater says. "I've been watching Macau for the past six years and I remember back in 2004, Macau had between 2,000 – 3,000 slots. Today, there are about 7,800 in Macau, and we project there to be solid growth through 2009 to bring that number to 20,000. The split in Macau now is 95:5, with tables as the dominant source of revenue. We believe in two years, this will change to 80:20."

G2EAsia gives gaming manufacturers an opportunity to network and market new products. MELCO launched a new range of gaming machines today produced by Elixir, a Macau-based manufacturer.