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MACAU BUSINESS

by Muhammad Cohen in Singapore

Lion Dice

C

Experts from across the region and in Singapore give their opinions on what it will take for the Lion City’s casino resorts to succeed…

asino giants Las Vegas Sands and Genting have placed bets totalling more than US$10 billion on integrated resorts (IRs) in Singapore. To turn a profit, each IR will have to outperform the most

successful casinos now operating. Top gaming executives and analysts in Singapore

and beyond, have provided the keys to success.

Integrating the Integrated Resorts

“The IRs need a unified approach with all

components,” Cirque du Soleil Vice President/Asia Pacific Managing Director Alan Hills says. Hotels, retail and other attractions all need to work

together, something that’s happened with only limited success at Macau’s casino resorts and on Sentosa, the Singapore leisure zone where Genting’s US$4.6 billion (MOP36.9 billion) Resorts World Sentosa opened its casino last month. “There’s been a 180 degree paradigm shift in

gaming,” former Taubman Asia President Morgan Parker says. “Casinos and amenities used to be at the focus.

Now these are shopping malls and real estate ventures with gaming.” The key remains finding mutually reinforcing

appeals to various market segments drawn to each component. “Non-gaming revenue is going to drive the IRs in

Singapore,” home grown restaurant and catering group Menu Managing Director Devin Kimble says. “What the IRs can offer, because profits are

provided by the casinos, is a much better put together retail, entertainment and F&B [food and beverage] experience. Currently, everything here is very

fragmented and the mall concepts are poorly conceived – every mall has pretty close to the same mix.” “The key is not how good a facility is but

the sum of the parts,” according to Dr Russell Arthur Smith, Interim Dean at Singapore’s Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management. Those parts go beyond the IRs’ boundaries, he adds. “It’s the Singapore package that will bring people here.”

12 APRIL 2010

The IRs need to be integrated into the overall

fabric of Singapore to succeed.

Universal Studios

The winning formula to boost visitor numbers,

according to local club scene trendsetter Saint James Power Station CEO Dennis Foo: “Combine a world class theme park with a casino and BT [business travel] destination. The key is the three things getting together.” Of the three, the Universal Studios theme park at

Resorts World Sentosa is the wild card. “It can’t and shouldn’t be just another Universal

Studios. It should be something globally unique to really create the maximize draw and have longevity,” hotel and leisure consultant Horwath Asia Pacific Managing Director Robert Hecker says. “Universal Studios Singapore will be bigger and

have the newest attractions compared with its other properties,” University of Nevada, Las Vegas Singapore Dean Dr Andy Nazarechuk says. “That difference will play a major role in defining

Universal Studios Singapore.” “Universal Studios has to be successful for it to be

a world-class experience,” a top regional consultant who requested anonymity says. “If it’s a squib like Disneyland Hong Kong, it won’t

be.” Universal Studios’ limited one-week sneak preview

of its grounds last month didn’t answer the question.

The local market

“The key is local market,” says a local hospitality executive who requested anonymity. “You’ve got 5 Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46
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