“As bad as it sounds, I don’t think there’s a future for just a pure non-gaming resort in Macau”, said Lawrence Ho, who opened his latest multi-billion dollar Macau resort on Tuesday.
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It is the stated policy of the Macau government and China’s central government to broaden the base of Macau’s whole economy, and to have more non-gaming attractions in the city’s tourism sector.
“At certain times of the year, at Golden Week and Chinese New Year, there is a bottleneck”, Ho said, adding: “If the government can resolve that bottleneck, Macau can take a lot more visitors because of operators like us who are building a lot of hotel rooms, there are hotel rooms… and amenities for a lot more people”. However, he pointed out that if his company had been granted 400 gaming tables as requested, “a very small portion” would have been VIP tables. “But we are where we are”. “We hope that the opening of Studio City will be part of a catalyst that will improve gaming revenues”, said co-chairman Lawrence Ho. Ho said Melco Crown was the “second least reliant on VIP” among Macau’s six operators, with VIP gaming representing less than 10% of Melco Crown’s group earnings.
Melco Crown was the last of the six gaming concessionaries to enter the market, about five years behind the rest.
Union Gaming analyst Grant Govertsen said Galaxy was benefiting from strong growth in its mass segment, even though it remained vulnerable to another slump in VIP revenue due to its reliance on big-spenders. “We really take it to the heart and say, ‘we are going to follow that”. “But we are where we are, and we are happy”, the son of Stanley Ho said. Also, its Hollywood-hefty promotional effort-a short film directed by…
An adult Studio City ticket that includes the 15-minute Batman ride, getting on the Ferris wheel, as well as entry to a magic show costs 650 patacas, or $81.
During the earlier press conference on the business aspects of Studio City, Mr Packer paid tribute to market rival Sheldon Adelson, chairman and chief executive of Las Vegas Sands Corp, for being first to develop a casino resort on Cotai – the Venetian Macao.
“Hats off to Sheldon Adelson”.
In a group interview with Japanese media organizations, Melco Crown CEO Lawrence Ho stressed the company is targeting China’s growing middle class with Studio City. The project had lain with its foundations part built since 2007 after the original set of investors could not all agree on the funding. Nevertheless, it is taking the lead in this new phase of Cotai development.
LH – I think so. “The rise of the middle income earning bracket and the rise of the more sophisticated well-travelled customer”. Melco Crown has spent over $10 billion in Macau.
[Among] global gaming companies, we are the biggest believer in entertainment and nongaming attractions.
Macau, an hour by ferry from Hong Kong, is the only place in China where casinos are legal.
“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. In Studio City, we have done interactive attractions.
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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. Why would they want to come to Macau to see the “fake thing”, it’s degrading and it’s insulting to Chinese people to do what a few of our competitors do.
