MACAU BUSINESS
executive vice-president for operations at Venetian Macau Ltd, says the gaming operator’s MICE business is going well and will improve once the new hotel rooms are available. “We have more and more enquiries from very large MICE groups”, some occupying up to 6,000 rooms at a time, he says. The new development means “we are getting to the point were we do have inventory to attract those groups”.
Bumpy road Sands China did not provide performance
Rossi and Pink Grill. “We are trying to create a critical mass so that we become a whole shopping destination,” says David Sylvester, the senior vice-president of retail Asia for Las Vegas Sands Corp. Las Vegas Sands is the parent company of Sands China. Shoppes Cotai Central will feature natural light,
cascading waterfalls and green vegetation on rocky cliff sides. Mr Sylvester says the complex will include a full floor dedicated to family-oriented retail outlets, opening in the third quarter. “We have got a retail business that generates north of US$1.3 billion a year,” says Mr Tracy. “High-quality, duty-free shopping experiences are in demand and we have expanded that portfolio in an attempt to capitalise on that.” In terms of positioning, the new Shoppes Cotai
Central will fit between the high-end Shoppes at The Four Seasons and premium mass-market Grand Canal Shoppes, says Mr Sylvester. Sands China will continue its long play in the meeting, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) market. Although Macau’s MICE industry has posted mixed results recently, Gunther Hatt,
projections for Cotai Central. “We are obviously optimistic,” Mr Tracy says. “A lot of our business philosophies have paid dividends in our current portfolio. So we expect to do well.” Sands China’s investment in Cotai Central runs to US$4 billion. The gaming operator has already poured more than US$8 billion overall into Macau. The ride for Cotai Central has been long and it has not been easy. The global financial crisis and recession forced site construction to be halted in November 2008. It was resumed only in May 2010. There were also changes in the hotel brands. One of the hotel towers was to be managed by Shangri-La International Hotel Management Ltd but in March last year, Sands China and Shangri- La agreed to terminate the deal. Eventually, the gaming operator signed a franchise agreement with Hilton Worldwide and InterContinental Hotels Group to use their Conrad and Holiday Inn brands respectively. After completion of Cotai Central, Sands China’s
next project for Cotai is parcel three, adjacent to the Four Seasons. The company plans to build a 4,000- room development there. Sands China has not yet given up on going ahead with parcels seven and eight. The appeal hearing on a government decision not to approve the company’s application for the two plots is underway. Sands China says it had already invested more than US$100 million in the sites before the government’s decision.
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