MACAU BUSINESS By Andrew Marszal By Paolo A. Azevedo


Las Vegas roaring back J


une has ended with a total of MOP6.5 billion (US$817 million) in gross gaming results, the worst monthly result in the SAR this year so Nevada pocketed an all-time record $1.36 billion in July from gamblers, who are flooding back to


Jeju will be as big as Singapore in terms of Gross Gaming Revenue, predicts Lawrence Teo. The Chief Operations Officer and Vice President of Dream Tower, the tallest Integrated Resort under construction on the Korean destination island, explains to Macau Business why Lotte Tour decided to enter the casino business and create a landmark. All bets are on making the casino resort the crown of the tourism jewel the company has been dominating for four decades


Jeju – the new Singapore


the city nicknamed Lost Wages after months confined at home with little to spend their money on. “We weren’t anticipating these type of numbers,” said Michael Lawton, senior analyst for Nevada Gaming Control Board.


“In Nevada, a billion dollars in gaming win is kind of a


bellwether number. And we’ve recorded a billion dollars in gaming win in five consecutive months.” July was something of a “perfect storm,” thanks to the


presence of major events including a Conor McGregor fight, a Garth Brooks concert at the gleaming new Allegiant Stadium, and the return of musical residencies such as Usher and Bruno Mars at swanky casino theaters. The month also contained five weekends, including the bonanza Fourth of July holiday. But the hot streak — and bustling crowds on the Strip — point to a renewed confidence in the safety of piling onto slot machines and roulette tables, even as the Delta variant spreads and Nevada has had to reimpose indoor mask mandates.


“The people that come to Vegas don’t really seem too concerned,” said one barman working on the Strip, who asked not to be named. “They don’t seem super worried about getting sick or


M 18 OCTOBER 2017 ‘Girls’ trip’


Las Vegas became a ghost town in early 2020, with casinos ordered to close for 78 days, dealing a heavy unemployment blow to the tourism-reliant economy. Capacity limits remained in place until this June, but even


by May the city had broken its long-standing monthly gambling revenue record set before the global financial


20 OCTOBER 2021


crisis that began in October 2007, according to Lawton. Americans’ reluctance to travel abroad during the


Covid-19 pandemic appears to have benefited Las Vegas, with domestic tourism surging. “We had been planning a girls’ trip — we were originally


going to Greece in 2020 but it was postponed, so this is like a revamp,” said Karen Utsey, 50, a defense contractor from Michigan. “Right now I don’t know if I’m comfortable going


acau Business – From Lotte World, a major recreational complex [with the world’s largest indoor theme park, in Seoul] to an integrated resort with casino in Jeju. A different beast. A


anything. I think if you’re paranoid about getting sick, I don’t think those people travel – they probably stay at home.” Workers at casinos told AFP that many of their customers


hail from the US Midwest, Texas and Florida. “It’s definitely back to pre-pandemic levels,” said Shawn


Jones, a promoter at the brand-new Resorts World casino, who said the previous weekend’s pool parties had fully sold out.


natural evolution? Lawrence Teo – Business is the same. But building


a landmark. M. B. – The group [Lotte] has created other landmarks in different types of business. Why would this be different? L. T. – Yes, Lotte Group has already created


overseas.” Total visitor numbers for July hit 3.3 million, just 10


percent below the same month in pre-pandemic 2019 despite the relative absence of international travel. Numbers arriving by car from California have surpassed


pre-pandemic levels all summer. While Lawton expects August gambling figures to track


downtown Seoul and Lotte Super Tower. We’re trying


“Maybe it’s the pent up energy… if you ain’t able to do something for a while, then there’s a big rush when they are able to get out.”


slightly lower than July, the gradual return of trade conventions that make up a huge slice of mid-week business offers hope for further growth. In June, the World of Concrete drew headlines as the first major industry convention to return to Las Vegas, and this week saw events including movie theater summit CinemaCon, the JCK jewelry show and Cannabis Conference 2021. Attendee numbers were expected to be lower than


to do the Dream Tower in Jeju. Lotte here is being just a family company; we’re a different company [Lotte Tour]. It’s not going to be [just] the tallest and the largest building in Jeju, that’s just the hardware. We say that a landmark should be the most visited destination, where tourists will go to eat, shop and maybe [visit] our observation deck. A must-visit point destination. Because of the hardware, and also the software.


M. B. – What are the main goals that you definitely


want to achieve with this Integrated Resort (IR)? L. T. – Number one EBIDTA on IR in Korea. There’s


previous years, but both events were scrapped entirely in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, meaning their return to Las Vegas represents progress. Dean and Amanda Moodie, 37 and 35, just arriving from


Minnesota for the jewelry event, said they have taken outdoor-based vacations around the US during the pandemic, but the Las Vegas trip “is probably our first dabble into things that are mainly indoors.” “I mean there’s masks and stuff,” said Dean Moodie. “I’m not too worried about myself personally anyways. And then we’re both vaccinated as well.”


Barely a year after the Las Vegas Strip was shut down by Covid-19, its world-famous casinos have roared back to a record-breaking summer thanks to a remarkable winning streak


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