“I don’t think Macau is losing any competitive edge,” Yip Je Choong, Senior Vice President (Commercial), APAC of RX (Reed Exhibitions), said on Tuesday on the sidelines of a press conference introducing the event. “I think it just requires a little bit of time for the exhibitors to recover after the COVID pandemic. We see the same situation in many other exhibitions of different industries in different countries,” he added. 

Held at the Venetian Macao on July 11–13, the Asian IR Expo + G2E Asia, organised by RX (Reed Exhibitions) and presented by the American Gaming Association, will showcase more than 100 exhibiting companies in a 15,000-square-metre-plus floor space. The two shows are expected to draw over 5,000 buyers and trade visitors from 80 countries and regions. 

The Asian IR Expo + G2E Asia will also feature two separate conference programmes, boasting over 100 speakers and experts from various fields in 30-plus sessions. 

The capacity of the two shows has been restored to about half of the previous capacity at G2E Asia in Macau in 2019 before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Yip Je Choong, Senior Vice President (Commercial), APAC of RX (Reed Exhibitions), said on Tuesday. The 2019 edition, which solely focused on gaming offerings, attracted the participation of over 16,500 local and international visitors from 105 countries and regions.

Talking about the debut of the Asian IR Expo alongside G2E Asia, the organiser said this new initiative aligns with the Macau government’s goal of diversifying its economy from casino gaming. “What we always do is transform the content according to where the industry is going,” Mr Yip said. “There’s now a new focus on building more tourism and integrated resorts in Macau. Then we’ll drive the platform, G2E, towards this way because… our key aim and objective is to serve the needs of the industry in Macau.”

Diversification high time  

“The launch of the Asian IR Expo aims to contribute to the transformation of Macau into an integrated resort city, offering a diversity of experiences for visitors worldwide,” he continued. “The collective strengths of both events will be propelling the gaming and integrated resorts sector forward, fostering innovations, driving business growth, and shaping the future of industry development.”

The exhibitors of the Asian IR Expo will be divided into four major areas, including travel, technology, sports and esports, and art and entertainment, according to the information advanced by RX (Reed Exhibitions). In the same vein, the three-day conference programme of the Asian IR Summit will focus on different themes, such as the travel economic outlook, the post-Covid era of tourism development, art and entertainment tourism, and sports and health tourism. 

The featured speakers will include Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of Macau Government Tourism Office; Wilfred Wong, president of gaming operator Sands China; Edison Chen, vice-president of destination marketing, strategy alliances, and international public relations of Trip.com Group; John Sun, chairman and CEO of Macau Pass; Macau architect and artist Carlos Marreiros; and others.

Meanwhile, the G2E Asia conference in Macau this year will only have a two-day programme on July 11-12, dissecting themes like regulatory oversight and gaming control in integrated resorts in Asia, the future 10 years of the Asian gaming industry, and the transition of VIP gaming into mass and non-gaming in the resorts.

The panels of the two-day conference will see a line-up of seasoned gaming industry executives and experts, including Ed Bowers, president of global development of MGM Resort; Chen Si, COO of Mohegan Inspire Entertainment Resort; Fredric E. Gushin, managing director of Spectrum Gaming Group; Kenneth Fong, managing director of investment bank Credit Suisse; Alidad Tash, founder and managing director of gaming consultancy 2NT8 Limited; and others.

Two events, two places

The return of Asian IR Expo + G2E Asia in Macau next month follows the conclusion of the three-day G2E Asia Special Edition: Singapore 2023 on June 1. The gaming trade show was first held in the Southeast Asia city-state last year, as COVID-related travel restrictions prevented the hosting of any international and regional expos in Macau in the past three years. 

“There are a lot of non-gaming components and sectors [in the event] in Macau. In Singapore, it’s 100 percent gaming related,” Mr Yip said, addressing the different positions of their expos in the two places. 

But he did not comment on whether this would be their model going forward in the coming years in the annual calendar of gaming events in Asia — a purely gaming expo in Singapore and gaming and non-gaming expos in Macau. They are still collecting feedback from industry stakeholders on how to arrange and shape their shows in the upcoming years, he added.

Another trade show, the Greater Bay Area Hotel and Cultural & Creative Industry Expo — organised by Nam Kwong International Conference and Exhibition Co Ltd, a Chinese state-owned affiliate in Macau — will also be held in the same location at the Venetian Macao on July 11–13, alongside the Asian IR Expo + G2E Asia.

Other activities available at the Asian IR Expo + G2E Asia include the Privileges Programme, a networking opportunity for over 500 serious buyers and decision makers with purchasing power in gaming and non-gaming segments; the invitation-only Presidents’ Reception cocktail for senior executives of industry stakeholders; and the ArtBiz Networking Cocktail to foster connections between the arts and cultural industry and the integrated resorts in Asia.

By Toni Lai