Inside Asian Gaming

May 2011 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 31 new Aristocrat products, and probably we will be able to work with other suppliers in future.” Melco Crown Entertainment is also the only operator in Macau to offer floorwide slot jackpots. Dragon’s Treasure Floorwide Jackpot, launched on 30th July, 2010 at City of Dreams, starts at HK$3 million. The company plans to boost its jackpot appeal by linking the floorwide jackpots at City of Dreams and Mocha Clubs (the slots at Altira are run as a Mocha venue). Rising mass The mass market gaming performance of City of Dreams has trailed that of its Cotai neighbour, The Venetian Macao. Melco Crown Entertainment’s gaming innovations, which are especially appropriate for the mass market (slot and main floor baccarat players), could help narrow that gap. Already, the gap seems to be narrowing following the launch of two big new entertainment initiatives: The HK$2 billion ‘The House of Dancing Water’ water- based show, launched in September 2010, and Club CUBIC, one of Asia’s largest and glitziest nightclubs, which opened 1st April, 2011. “Our company consistently focuses on not only the hardware, but also on the software,”says Mr Chan,“and we’ve programmed a lot of other attractions for City of Dreams, like the pool parties at Hard Rock Hotel from the end of May. Mr Chan believes the next five years will be a critical period for the development of Macau’s mass market as a whole. “I cannot give you a timeline for when mass would be overtaking VIP, but I foresee very positive growth over the next say five years time frame.” He points out infrastructure improvements and the improved critical mass of offerings on Cotai following the openings of the Galaxy Macau megaresort this month and properties on Sands China’s plots 5 and 6 in the following months will bring a slew of new mass market visitors to Macau. Mr Chan believes a bigger mass market driver, though, will be the rise of “China consumerism”. “The whole consumer landscape in China will change over the next five years. It’s really the five year plan for China, which is well communicated to the China community. So whereas in the past China relied a lot on foreign direct investment to Poolside draw—The SPLASH Pool Party Summer Series co-organised by Hard Rock Hotel Macau and Club CUBIC, held in conjunction with MTV Asia, starts on 21st May Glitz appeal—the main room at Club CUBIC boost its economy, over the next five years, internal consumption will contribute more to GDP. Entertainment is one of the big things that will gain from rising consumption.” “So we expect more people will come over to Macau because of its unique attractions. And that’s not only gaming—even though gaming is already a big attraction because you can’t gamble in China. But there’s also a lot of other entertainment here.” Talking Heads