FBD: Portuguese wine is loosing market share in Macao, China

November 11 2009 - In an effort to increase participation into the wine segment of major casino chains in Macao, local Portuguese wine importers promoted a wine tasting at the official residence of the Portugal’s consul general last Monday.

Jaime Quendera, manager of a Portuguese wine cooperative explains that casino chains - in Macao since 2002 - are buying internationally recognized European wine straight from the source which caused Portuguese wine market share to fall 40 percent in four years, from 60 percent in 2005 to 20 percent these days.

However, Macao is a busy tourist destination and a great place to access wider markets in Asia which Portuguese wine makers are eager to explore.

The region has surpassed Las Vegas in terms of gross gaming revenues in recent years and wishes to become an outstanding food and wine destination in Asia, states David Wong, founder of the Macao Culinary Association.

Latest figures showed that the Special Administrative Region (SAR), the only place in China where gaming is legal, collected record revenues of over 12 billion patacas (1.51 billion U.S. dollars) in October this year.