Betting on wider mix of casino clients
By Kelvin Chan |
May 16, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Galaxy Macau, a multibillion-dollar casino resort complex, opened yesterday as Macau aims to draw a broader mix of visitors than the high-rolling Chinese mainland tourists who have helped the city become the world's most lucrative gambling market.
The Galaxy Entertainment Group's US$1.9 billion casino is the only one scheduled to open in the southern Chinese city this year. It has 450 gambling tables and 1,500 slot machines.
Three hotels, including one run by Singapore's Banyan Tree and another by Japan's Okura, have 2,200 rooms. One of the biggest resort-style attractions is a 4,000 square-meter wave pool that generates waves as high as 1.5 meters splashing onto an artificial beach built with 350 tons of white sand.
Tropical and Japanese gardens, a Japanese tea pavilion, a Scottish whiskey bar, 50 restaurants, a private members' club and a shopping street are other draws. A nine-screen 3D movie theater is set to open later this year.
The launch of Macau's 34th casino comes as the city seeks to diversify its economy away from gambling after years of searing growth that helped it overtake Las Vegas as the world's top casino market. It now aims to draw visitors with cultural and entertainment attractions as well as gambling.
Macau's economy has boomed since a four-decade casino monopoly was broken up in 2002, opening the way for American and Australian operators to enter the market with local partners. Monthly casino revenues so far in 2011 have grown by at least 33 percent, after surging by more than half last year to US$23.5 billion.
The Las Vegas strip, in contrast, raked in US$5.8 billion in revenue in 2010.
The company said it expects a third of visitors to be high-rollers while the rest will be mass market.
The Galaxy Entertainment Group's US$1.9 billion casino is the only one scheduled to open in the southern Chinese city this year. It has 450 gambling tables and 1,500 slot machines.
Three hotels, including one run by Singapore's Banyan Tree and another by Japan's Okura, have 2,200 rooms. One of the biggest resort-style attractions is a 4,000 square-meter wave pool that generates waves as high as 1.5 meters splashing onto an artificial beach built with 350 tons of white sand.
Tropical and Japanese gardens, a Japanese tea pavilion, a Scottish whiskey bar, 50 restaurants, a private members' club and a shopping street are other draws. A nine-screen 3D movie theater is set to open later this year.
The launch of Macau's 34th casino comes as the city seeks to diversify its economy away from gambling after years of searing growth that helped it overtake Las Vegas as the world's top casino market. It now aims to draw visitors with cultural and entertainment attractions as well as gambling.
Macau's economy has boomed since a four-decade casino monopoly was broken up in 2002, opening the way for American and Australian operators to enter the market with local partners. Monthly casino revenues so far in 2011 have grown by at least 33 percent, after surging by more than half last year to US$23.5 billion.
The Las Vegas strip, in contrast, raked in US$5.8 billion in revenue in 2010.
The company said it expects a third of visitors to be high-rollers while the rest will be mass market.
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