The $US3.2 billion Studio City casino complex opened in Macau, the world’s biggest gambling hub, on Tuesday.
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Melco Crown Entertainment, which developed Studio City, said it remains positive about the future of the gambling industry in the semi-autonomous city. If it was 400 tables [in the allocation] maybe there would have been a very small portion for VIP [gambling]. “But we are where we are”.
The company is less reliant on the VIP gaming business, which has accounted for less than 10 percent of its earnings, before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, Ho noted. He also said that among the city’s six gaming operators, Melco Crown was the second least dependent on high rollers brought in by junkets. But Studio City also distinguished itself from its competitors by its lack of junket-operated VIP gaming rooms, a scenario that would have been unheard of just a year ago.
“The truth is: gaming is really the financial engine”, Ho said. “But we are where we are, and we are happy”, the son of Stanley Ho said. The Martin Scorsese directed film premiered at the opening of the complex.
Riding in metal-clad capsules that holds up to 10 people, Studio City visitors get a bird’s eye view over much of Macau’s Cotai Strip, and over the sea to China’s city of Zhuhai. One junket operator, Neptune Group Ltd., which reported an annual loss of more than $100 million, said it was thinking of closing more VIP rooms and moving into money lending or other businesses because of the prospect of increased scrutiny.
LH – We always build for the future! Nevertheless, it is taking the lead in this new phase of Cotai development. But Mr Packer said the market will return in good shape.
“We are the undisputed top investors in terms of non-gaming attractions”.
Macau, an hour by ferry from Hong Kong, is the one place in China the place casinos are authorized.
“So from next year, 2017, 2018 and 2019, there will gradually be more infrastructures that will be able to support [local tourism], and Macau actually has the ability to have more than 31 million visitors [a year]”, Ho said. A Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for Studio City said she couldn’t immediately comment.
A employee walks past passenger pods on the Golden Reel ferris wheel at the Studio City casino resort.
Mr Ho was asked to clarify whether Studio City’s hotel facilities included five-star accommodation as well as four-star, as the property was listed in Macau’s Official Gazette as having four-star accommodation.
But the government wants the resorts to offer more.
“We are very respectful of the government and their regulations – we have done a few things that are pretty innovative from their perspective – so rather than putting them in a hard position, we will gladly lower ourselves to four-star”, he told the assembled media.
Ho had wanted Studio City to be an homage to epic Hollywood films, according to Gary Goddard, the North Hollywood, California-based theme-park designer, who helped create the resort.
He stated: “Let’s be clear, Lawrence is the CEO of this company”.
In perhaps an unrelated matter, local broadcaster Teledifusão de Macau released a quote by Cloee Chao which said “Authorities have already sent people to inspect the casino, but the gaming operator would rather get fined than improve the situation”.
“But I think the most important thing in a political sense is that Lawrence and I are a role model JV [joint venture] for how an Australian company and a Chinese company should work”.
“We’ve reinvested almost every cent”, Packer said.
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“With this amount invested we are looking five or ten years ahead”. And for a partnership to have worked as well and as long [is an achievement]. We didn’t even have a standard operating procedure. “So it has grown from nothing…”
