Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming October 2016 10 Cover Story THREE RIGHTS “Simply put, we think Parisian is the right product targeting the right market segments at the right time,” Union Gaming Head of Asia Equity Research Grant Govertsen says. “The property has generally exceeded our expectations and most importantly seems to hit the sweet spot of what a typical mainland mass market visitor generally responds well to: sense of grandeur, massive scale, European highlights.” Parisian draws inspiration from more than a dozen City of Lights landmarks. A 30 meter tall Arc de Triomphe provides the base for a 12 meter video board. Behind the 38 story Eiffel Tower, the Palais Garnier opera house inspires Parisian’s hotel block façade, the porte cochere reminiscent of railway station Gard du Nord and the Grand Palais. The main lobby rotunda boasts a replica of the Fontaine des Mers with sea-themed sculptures beneath a dome of murals and marble modeled after L’Hotel National des Invalides. Vermillion walls and huge oil painting reproductions in gold frames around the front desk evoke Versailles. The retail mall features a reproduction of Place Vendome’s column beneath an electronic sky that morphs into a sound and light show. The Eiffel Tower replica with 6,600 LED bulbs erupts into a nightly concert of light. The 162 meter tall model of the Paris original, built with more than 2,800 metric tons (6.2 million pounds) of Shanghai- forged steel, has observation decks on its 7th and 37th floors, open 10:00 to 22:00 and accessed via the mall. Tickets to the top, reached Empire of Sands With the opening of Venetian Macao in August 2007 as Cotai’s first integrated resort, Las Vegas Sands founder Sheldon Adelson began a bold experiment that would shift the city’s center of tourism and gaming gravity south. The opening of Parisian Macao fills the final plot of Cotai land granted to Sands China, the LVS subsidiary that now holds its Macau properties, though Mr Adelson wishes it wasn’t so. “I wanted 20 properties here,” the Sands China chairman and CEO declared hours before Parisian’s opening on 13 September. Last year, Cotai generated more than US$12 billion in gaming revenue By Muhammad Cohen Sheldon Adelson’s company has built a big lead in Cotai, the gaming hub he invented.