Melco JV opens new mega resort in Macao
Updated: 2009-06-02 07:12
By Liu Yiyu(HK Edition)
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Lawrence Ho (right), chairman and chief executive officer of Melco International Development Ltd, and James Packer (center), deputy chairman of Consolidated Media Holdings Ltd, smash guitars during the grand opening ceremony for the City of Dreams casino and hotel project in Macao yesterday. |
HONG KONG: Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd yesterday opened for business its joint-venture City of Dreams casino/hotel/entertainment complex on Macao's Cotai Strip, marking the city's latest bid to achieve its ambition of becoming Asia's gaming capital amid an industry slump.
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The City of Dreams hotel-casino resort on Cotai, Macao, is seen as a $2billion bet that Macao tourism growth will recover and "mass-market" players will offset weakening revenue from high rollers. Bloomberg News |
The complex, which costs over $2 billion to develop on Cotai Strip, has more than 500 gaming tables, three hotels, an up-scale shopping mall, restaurants and lavish entertainment facilities.
The new resort, Macao's second largest gaming complex, is the first big casino house opened in the city in two years. It sits opposite the Sands Venetian Macau complex, the world's largest by area, which is considered the city's growth engine.
While the Venetian targets high-end players, City of Dreams is believed by some analysts to cover a wider customer range.
"With more quality attractions and more diverse entertainment, gone are the days when visitors are here purely for gambling," said Lawrence Ho, one of the project developers and son of Macao's gambling magnate Stanley Ho.
Melco Crown Entertainment is a joint venture between the younger Ho and Australian tycoon James Packer.
The new casino's fate would determine if the $2 billion bet can successfully drag its pillar industry out of the current slump, analysts said.
(HK Edition 06/02/2009 page4)