Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | September 2008 42 Briefs Regional Briefs New Openings at Venetian Macao’s One-Year Bash A year after the opening of the Venetian Macao, Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS) opened its second property on the Cotai Strip, the Four Seasons Hotel Macao, featuring the upmarket 211,000 sq. ft Shoppes at Four Seasons mall. Venetian Macao’s one-year birthday was also marked by theworld premiere of Cirque du Soleil’s ZAIA at a specially- built 1,800-seat theatre within the resort. “Today marks yet another significant milestone in the overall effort to transform Macao into an international leisure and business destination,”remarked LVS Chairman and CEO Sheldon G. Adelson at the anniversary celebrations.“The key to building a successful tourist destination is being able to assemble the critical mass of attractions needed to make the location more unique and compelling than its rival destinations.” The new Four Seasons Hotel Macao, which is owned by LVS but operated and managed by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, features 360 guestrooms and suites. The new Shoppes at Four Seasons is connected to the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian Macao and the Four Seasons Hotel Macao. It features approximately 180 luxury brands, including more than 60 brands not previously offered in Macao. Weidner said the Cotai Strip will be further enhanced by next year’s arrival of the St. Regis and Shangri-La hotel brands. He also said that ZAIA, Cirque du Soleil’s first permanent production to open in Asia, further establishes Macao and the Cotai Strip as a premier destination for world-class entertainment, especially when combined with the Cotai Strip Arena, which has already hosted more than 120,000 spectators since opening last August and has featured international acts like Beyonce, Celine Dion and The Police, as well as a variety of popular Asian acts and sporting events. Macau Growth Continues in August Despite concerns that travel restrictions on mainland Chinese visitors coming to Macau could hurt casino revenues, August revenues were up 44% year-on-year, totalling US$1.2 billion. Deutsche Bank analyst Karen Tang said the growth beat July’s 42% and her initial expectations of a 25-30% increase. She noted, however, that new visa restrictions have slowed growth from the year-to-date trend of 52%.Tang said she believed the rest of the year could slow down further “as the effects of the series of government measures accumulate.” Tang said the Chinese government appears to be sending a strong message that it is determined to control the growth of Macau’s gambling industry. Goldman Sachs analyst Simon Cheung said the results beat his expectations, and suggested one possible reason for the continued growth is that some Chinese residents may have used visas approved several months earlier to visit Macau in recent weeks. Malaysia’s Islamic Party Abandons Ban Plans Agence France Presse reports that Malaysia’s conservative Islamic party PAS has shelved a proposal to ban gambling and restrict alcohol sales in the four states it rules with its political allies. The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) is part of a three- member opposition alliance which made huge strides in March elections, wresting five states and a third of parliamentary seats from the ruling coalition. PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said at the party’s annual meeting that it would not pursue the campaign against gambling and alcohol demanded by influential party scholars, which would have affected much of Kuala Lumpur. Korea Proposes Doubling Casino Tax On September 2, Bloomberg reported on a plunge in the stock price of Kangwon Land Inc., the operator of South Korea’s only casino open to local citizens, after the government announced plans to double the casino tax next year. It was the biggest drop in the company’s stock price in almost seven years—it fell by the daily limit of 15%.Meanwhile, casino operator Paradise Co—which runs casinos open only to foreigners—also declined 15%. South Korea intends to raise the tax imposed on casino operators