Melco Crown Entertainment CEO bullish on Macau's gaming future

Hollywood-themed Studio City is now officially open, with the goal of Melco Crown's US$3.2 billion (MOP25.54 billion) resort to target the mass market through non-gaming amenities during the coming years.

The revenue decline has mostly been attributed to a corruption crackdown spearheaded by Chinese President Xi Jinping, which has dented the VIP gaming market. The downturn has cut into profits at USA casino operators such as Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd., which have multibillion-dollar projects in the pipeline.

"With the anti-corruption campaign and the political sentiment, a lot of wealthy people feel going to Macau is very risky".

"I'm really proud that when the government issued the six gaming licences, they expected us to build non-gaming attractions". The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge will be a game changer. It has about three dozen casinos that rake in about seven times more revenue than the Las Vegas Strip.

He indicated that officially the designation was four-star for the purposes of government classification, but that the group was proud to have what he described as the most five-star product classifications from Forbes for the Macau market.

"There has been a big change in the VIP market in the past 18 months and I think this change is likely to be a permanent one because of the macro factors", Ho said, when asked how much longer the ramp-up period would be for Studio City without VIP lounges, compared with his company's premium mass market focused City of Dreams. Ho says that's the way to tap into a growing Chinese middle class, but admits there's no long-term future in Macau without gambling.

"This is the future of China, the rise of the middle income bracket [in the mainland] and the rise of the more sophisticated well-travelled customer", Ho said.

But the system is collapsing as Beijing tightens up on cash laundering and capital flight.

Ho celebrated the fact that no other Macau casino operator had ever attempted anything like the film and that its "viral" reputation had already justified its production costs.

In June 2011, the casino firm paid US$360 million to take over leadership of the Studio City scheme from a few previous investors. Gross earnings for the month was 17.13 billion pataca (1.94 billion euros, $2.15 billion), down one-third from the same time past year, according to Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

"With this amount invested we are looking five or ten years ahead".

A 37 per cent drop is obviously unexpected and obviously not good.

"Studio City, with an array of world-firsts entertainment attractions, is set to earn its place as an internationally recognized leisure destination, enhancing Macau's tourism appeal on the world stage".

Wynn's exasperation was on behalf of Melco, which stated earlier this yr it hoped for at the very least four hundred tables as a way to keep away from defaulting on its $ 1.4 billion mortgage. After it was granted only 250 last week, the Hong Kong-Australian joint venture said it would be forced to renegotiate the loan terms.

Macau's upcoming resorts will emphasize entertainment and shopping over gambling as casino operators bow to authorities' desire to shed the city's image as a sleazy, vice-ridden gambling haven to become a family friendly global tourist destination.

But Wynn stated that transition is threatened if casinos can not accommodate sufficient gamblers to fund it. Studio City is the latest test of the former Portuguese colony's ability to attract visitors wanting to play on more than gaming tables and slot machines.