Inside Asian Gaming

October 2016 inside asian gaming 11 and billions more in hotel, food and beverage, entertainment and retail sales. “Before our very eyes, Macau is making the transition that Las Vegas made over 75 or 80 years” to a broader based tourist destination, Mr Adelson said, with Cotai and LVS leading the charge. “The government is pushing our competition to do non-gaming, but they will have trouble catching up with us.” The Parisian joins Sands China’s Venetian, The Plaza/Four Seasons and Sands Cotai Central at the heart of Cotai. Melco Crown is the only other operator with frontage along Cotai’s 1.5 kilometer central north-south artery, Estrada do Istmo. When the footbridge connecting Parisian to Four Seasons opens, Sands China will have under one roof seven hotel brands with nearly 13,000 guestrooms – 58% of current Cotai keys – plus 800 retail shops covering 202,000 square meters (2.16 million square feet), five casinos with more than 1,300 tables and 5,000 machines, a 15,000 seat arena, two theaters, dozens of gondolas and 150,000 square meters of MICE space. “We have been trying to grow the MICE,” Mr Adelson admits, calling the bridge connecting Macau to Hong Kong and Zhuhai a key “catalyst” for MICE. When that bridge is completed, perhaps in 2019, “Macau will have the equivalent of two airports, with 100 carriers serving 180 cities,” the 83 year old billionaire says, referring to international hubs in Hong Kong and Macau. “That is going to have a dramatic impact.” On the development side, Sands China has no more Cotai land to build on. That led Mr Adelson to remark, “There doesn’t seem to be too much more growth there,” widely misreported as expressing pessimism about Macau, when he was really lamenting Sands China’s lack of new opportunities in Macau. “We had six lots here. We could do six more – and this time we’d do them faster.” Sands China had preliminary government approval for another prime Cotai site, Lots 7 and 8, south of Sands Cotai Central and across the street from The Parisian. But authorities rejected Sands China’s formal application for the land in December 2010, marking the nadir of their relationship. Earlier that year, Mr Adelson accused Chief Executive Fernando Chui of reneging on a purported deal struck with his predecessor Edmund Ho for Sands China to sell its Four Seasons apartments. Since then, relations have warmed. Mr Adelson andMr Chui chatted amicably at the Sands Cotai Central opening in April 2012. In June 2013, the government announced an agreement with Sands China on the sale of the Four Seasons apartments, though more than three years later no transactions have been reported and the tower remains dark. At the same time, the dusty Lot 7 and 8 site remains an eyesore with scant sign of progress toward the government’s pledge of non- gaming development. Mr Adelson’s unabashed plea for land is a reminder that Cotai remains the future of Macau gaming, where every operator wants to be. Just a glance tells you Sands China has the biggest and best piece of Cotai. “A pre-opening social media campaign, plus the completed Eiffel Tower creating buzz for 11 months before the resort’s debut, produced big crowds for the opening and solid hotel bookings for the integrated resort’s early weeks. That said, Parisian offers way more than hype.” Cover Story in a 40 second elevator ascent, cost MOP$168 (US$21) for adults and MOP$138 for children during the week, up to MOP$188 and MOP$158 on weekends. But the real power of the tower seems to be as a backdrop for photos. “No one has believed more or invested more in Macau’s future as a leisure and business destination,” Mr Adelson said at Parisian’s