Inside Asian Gaming

January 2010 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 45 Briefs storeys, offering approximately 800 units with one to four bedrooms. In 2006, Hongkong Land announced 80% of the residential units had been presold, generating a notional HK$5.2 billion (US$670 million) in income for the developers. In the meantime, however, the global recession upset financial projections for the scheme. The most prominent example was the withdrawal of an Icelandic insurance company, which had an option to purchase an entire tower. One Central Mall covers 400,000 sq. ft and boasts the fourth biggest Louis Vuitton store in the world after Paris, New York and neighbouring Hong Kong. Family dreams City of Dreams will bolster its claims to be a family holiday resort by opening ‘Kids City’ in the first quarter of this year. The 1,000 square meter (10,700 square feet) venue at MPEL’s integrated resort on Cotai in Macau, is a play zone for children. Facilities include a climbing area, video games, a bouncy castle, an arts and crafts area, a stage and a dressing up zone. Kids City will also offer themed birthday parties for children and the services of ‘party planners’ to help prepare the event. “Parents can join in the fun or enjoy other facilities at City of Dreams in the knowledge their kids are being supervised by industry trained professionals,”said Greg Hawkins, President of City of Dreams, in a prepared statement. JackpotJunction for Sentosa Gaming Support is following up the successful introduction of its JackpotJunction XL digital signage technology at Macau’s City of Dreams resort, with a new installation of the system in Resorts World at Sentosa. The industry leading technology provided by the Netherlands- based company allows all electronic signs, marketing displays and promotional material to be fully integrated into a casino’s gaming management systems—and all at maximum energy and data efficiency. “When City of Dreams opened, we invited several high-end Asian customers to come and take a look,” says Nick Hogan, Vice President of Sales and Business Development for Gaming Support. “You can argue that this was a bit of a gamble, but we knew where we stood, and it said a lot about our confidence. Sure enough, these clients took notice,” he adds. Your money’s no good here Singapore officials have barred 28,000 local residents from the Lion City’s two new casinos before the doors even open. Those on the exclusion list are reported to be either undischarged bankrupts or those on welfare. Some readers may be surprised to learn there are welfare claimants even in notoriously hard-working Singapore. The rest of the population not on the banned register will have to pay either an annual membership of S$2,000 (US$1,433) or a daily fee of S$100 (US$71) for the privilege of playing in the casinos at Genting’s Resorts World at Sentosa or Las Vegas Sands Corp’s Marina Bay Sands resort. Changing sides Andrew MacDonald, once a key player in the planning for Resorts World at Sentosa in Singapore, has been appointed Executive Vice President of Gaming for market rival Las Vegas Sands Corp’s Marina Bay Sands. His former employer Genting must be hoping his recollections of his time as their executive vice president–businessdevelopment, is just a fading memory. If not he may be well placed to point out to his new employers any potential weakness in the Genting game plan for Singapore. To be fair to Mr MacDonald, he did have a lengthy spell in between those two jobs as Managing Director, Macquarie Capital Advisors, based in New York. “I’m really sad to be leaving Macquarie because we’ve had some great success and are just about ready to make some big moves to compete with the Goldmans and the UBSs of the world. But I’m leaving the business in capable hands to take advantage of a once- in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he told Global Gaming Business magazine after news of the appointment broke. As GGB pointed out in its piece, Mr MacDonald knows all about spotting opportunities. He started his career as a dealer at a casino in Tasmania, Australia. Andrew MacDonald Resorts World Sentosa One Central