MACAU BUSINESS
(L-R) Thomas Arasi, Moshe Safdie, Dr Miriam Adelson, Sheldon Adelson and Mike Leven cutting the ribbon at Marina Bay Sands (1)
government, local stakeholders and other IR developers ever imagined or even contemplated”. Mr Murray points out that Sheldon Adelson “continuously forced his competitors to adapt, evolve and reinvent their IR development plans and operations”. Moreover, “all of the other five concessions are, who they are today, as a result of the pioneering efforts of Sheldon Adelson, who led the way, into swampy ground, and laid the foundation upon which others followed”. Melina Leong, who joined the group in 2005 and became Sands China’s Senior Vice President of Public Relations and Community Affairs, underlines that Adelson’s “vision of building integrated resorts at Cotai Strip has not just taken Macau’s gaming industry to world class level but also transformed the landscape of Macau’s tourism industry”, while adding that he was also “courageous enough to invest significantly into the then small city”.
Status quo challenger
Macau-based lawyer António Ramirez joined Sands China one month after the opening of the group’s first casino in the Macau peninsula. He first served as associate general counsel and then as Senior Vice President for Human Resources and shares the memory of someone “generous and concerned with the people that work with him, especially those who earned less”. As for his legacy to the city’s economic development
and tourism industry, Mr Ramirez notes that history will “remember Mr. Adelson as the pioneer and visionary of
“Sheldon Adelson allowed a person that did not want to play in a casino to become a visitor and consumer in an
Integrated Resort” António Ramirez,
former Sands China Senior Vice President for Human Resources
the Cotai Strip in Macau, and he was the father of the Cotai Strip”, while highlighting his ability to “look at a business and see what others did not see”. Bringing to Macau the IR concept is seen as a key component of his contribution to the city, as adding the convention business to the gaming industry resulted in a profound change.
“This concept also enabled a much more significant
development in hotels, restaurants, entertainment, and shopping centers”, António Ramirez underscores while highlighting that “Sheldon Adelson allowed a person that did not want to play in a casino to become a visitor and consumer in an Integrated Resort”. The successful transformation spurred by Sands
China’s opening of the IR in Cotai was also a factor in persuading other jurisdictions in the region, starting by Singapore, where Las Vegas Sands opened the mega- resort Marina Bay Sands. “The Convention business model also draws the attention of governments
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