Insight SAIPAN Imperial Palace
transportation, shuttle buses to carry the Philippine dealers on the other side of the island back and forth around the clock. It’s the detailed work that goes into the everyday planning behind the scenes that’s been the most challenging aspect of this project.
How is development of the Grand Mariana progressing?
Te construction of the Grand Mariana is on track. Te typhoon set us back a little, but having just started there was actually very little for the typhoon to damage. We had just cleared the land and undergone an archaeological dig with visiting experts from Hawaii. We held public hearings to agree to the clearing of the land and then the archaeologists found 256 bones, an intact WWII body, cooking bowls and utensils, tools, a couple of hand grenades and a sea mine. So we’re now building a museum and will be displaying the objects that we found. Every person that builds in Saipan finds something. Even the DFS shopping mall has a plaque outside that says they found 96 bones on the site.
What are some of the initial feedback from the customers who have been to your temporary casino? Are they expecting something similar to Macau?
brought to the island, the better it is for everyone.
What have been the biggest difficulties you’ve faced so far?
Te logistics on a small island have been the most challenging. Getting the temporary facility opened quickly, not only in terms of shipping tables and slots and getting the Commission to approve the vending licenses of all the different suppliers, the biggest thing was hiring the best employees. Getting the employees to come from the Philippines; dealers, supervisors, pit bosses, surveillance and cage staff. Recruiting enough staff to run the casino 24 hours seven days a week, was a challenge, and then we had to house everyone. We have 1,200 employees for the temporary facility, which will grow to 3,000 employees in the Grand Mariana; the second building will have 4,000, and beside the gaming/hotel operational people, we have 2- 3,000 construction workers. So we’re building dormitories, we have bought a housing development of 40 individual homes for our executive housing, plus 70 units for dealers and supervisor, with 2-3 beds in a room. We are taking good care of all these people, supplying uniforms and housing requirements,
Everyone has been shocked when they arrived. When you think about a temporary facility, this is not what you expect. We spent $25m on a temporary casino. Nobody does that! But then we had a return in under a month. When you look at some of the casinos in Macau at this moment, were they’re spending $3bn on a property, just look at their EBITDA for the year. We spent $25m and our EBITDA is 20 times theirs. Whether it’s the investors, bankers or VIPs, the initial impression is “wow.”
When you’re bringing players from China we knew that the temporary casino had to look like a real casino, though on a much smaller scale. When we opened in July, it exceeded everyone’s expectations. Our restaurant in the casino is probably serving the best food on the entire island and it’s constantly packed with locals too. Any negativity that was felt when we came to the island has diminished, as they’ve seen that we’re a great neighbor. We are responsible corporate citizens, we are helping the entire island, the budget is growing, the retirement fund is replenished, everything is back on track. We are creating jobs, not just within the facility, but in the community. Locals are seeing that in the long run we are helping everyone. And actually, another big factor is that we’re bringing young people back to the island. Te career choices on Saipan meant that you could enter politics, become a lawyer, join the military or you could leave. And then there was no reason to come home. People are now coming back to Saipan because we’re creating real job opportunities. One of the drivers was a mechanic in the army for eight years. I asked
him if he could fix a slot machine and he said: yes, if you show me how. He is now one of our lead slot technicians. One of our dealers spent 10 years in Seattle with no reason to come home, but has returned to her family making $70,000 per year as a shift manager in the casino.
Would you target the mass market as well as the VIP market?
Te mass market will grow as more rooms come online. We will have 1,000 rooms by the first quarter of 2017, and then another batch of rooms 2018-19. Tis limit on the number of rooms means there’s not much more we can do in terms of growing the mass. Te 1,000 rooms will be filled immediately and any person visiting the island as a tourist, I believe, is going to walk onto our casino floor. Tere are a couple of local restaurants and bars, but when the Grand Mariana opens we are going to be the only luxurious destination on the island. Restaurants, entertainment, bars in addition to gaming. Te more rooms that we add, the more we will be able to grow the mass. And then we can add more flights and establish relationships with the airlines, we have already had direct flights flying into Saipan from Hong Kong in July, and more airlines are coming in soon. More importantly, HK Express announced that the commencement of the direct flights to Saipan was according to a survey they have done on people’s favourite destinations, which tells you that Saipan is on top of people’s choices. According to another survey done by the China Tourism Association, Saipan ranked fifth on the list of Chinese tourists’ dream destinations. Tis tells you how desirable the island is in the eyes of Chinese tourists.
What’s it been like developing such a huge project on such a small island?
We’re the only casino operator on the island for the next 40 years, and it is a very small island. Everything from landing at the airport to going through customs, everyone knows Best
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE /
247.COM P35
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 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60