After more than a decade of fast growth asics gel kayano 20 uk , casino revenue in global gambling hub Macao fell for the sixth straight month, with October posting the worst drop at 23.2 percent.[Special coverage]


"In fact, the performance of the casinos was not so bad," Leong Man Ion, deputy director of the Gaming Inspection & Coordination Bureau, dismissing general concerns of how and where the decline will lead Macao's economy.


Official data show that despite the slump, gambling revenues increased by 0.3 percent year on year to 328.2 billion patacas (about 41 billion U.S. dollars) in the first 11 months.


Macao continued to keep its existing capitalist system in line with the "one country asics gel saga sale , two systems" policy after it returned to the motherland in 1999. The central authority allowed the Special Administrative Region (SAR) to formulate policies on tourism and recreation on its own in the light of its overall interests, making it effectively retain its economic development course.


As the only place in China where casino gambling is legal, Macao's gaming sector has grown by 25 times in the last decade or so, boosted by opening up the sector to foreign competition in 2002.


"Such a growth rate is possible in the primary stage of development," Leong said, however, like Las Vegas asics gel saga uk , once this industry becomes mature, it will see a new development model featuring slower and more steady growth.


"The slower growth of the gambling industry has offered an opportunity to develop non-gambling elements," said Leong, who predicted that the slump will continue until mid next year.


Analysts pointed out that as one of the fastest-developing region in the world, Macao is embracing a "new normal" situation, featuring a transfer from high growth rate to a medium and steady growth stage, which will accelerate the strategic adjustment of the economic structure and promote diversified development.


MORE TO OFFER THAN THE ROLLING DICE


Fong Ka Chio onitsuka tiger mexico 66 uk , Director of Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming under the University of Macau, considered the one-year adjustment period for the gaming industry as "a golden year for Macao's sustainable development."


"Instead of getting back on the track of frantic growth before the adjustment, the slump will help the casino operators to no longer fix their eyes solely on the whirring number of gambling revenues, but invest more into the non-gaming sector," Fong said.


The island city, home to 35 casinos, 5 asics onitsuka tiger sale uk ,716 gaming tables and 12,873 slot machines, has overtaken Las Vegas in terms of gaming revenue nearly a decade ago. Casinos contributed over 76 percent of the Macao government's revenues.


To lessen the overwhelming reliance on gambling which is especially risky for a micro economy like Macao, the government vowed to "appropriately diversify" its economy by expanding its portfolio to develop tourism, include upscale shopping malls, resorts and convention centers, and traditional Chinese medicine.


Such ambitions have seen solid results asics onitsuka tiger uk , and officials, scholars and businessmen have expressed confidence in a more diversified future for Macao.


Now Macao has much more to offer visitors than just the rolling dice.


Its cobbled streets, historical architectures, museums, pop concerts, music and arts festivals, the Grand Prix and dragon-boat racing asics gel lyte v womens sale , fancy resorts all pull in visitors.