Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | September 2012 20 Asian Gaming 50 – 2012 15 Michael Mecca President and COO Galaxy Entertainment Group 16 Ted Chan Chief Operating Officer Melco Crown Entertainment Lastmonth, Galaxy Entertainment Group released results for the first half of 2012, once again exceeding analysts’ forecasts, and that’s in addition to the expected year- on-year boost to its bottom line from a full six months of operation at Galaxy Macau— the first half of 2011 included only 47 days’ contribution from the company’s US$1.9 billion Cotai flagship, which opened 15th May last year. In the first six months of 2012, GEG more than doubled its revenue to HK$28.3 billion (US$3.6 billion), while adjusted EBITDA soared 159% to HK$4.7 billion. Galaxy Macau contributed $16 billion and $2.9 billion, respectively, of the group’s revenue and EBITDA during that period. Michael Mecca joined GEG in March 2009 in the run-up to the Galaxy Macau opening with a mission to take the company “to the next level in its development as a leading Asian gaming corporation,” according to Deputy Chairman Francis Lui. Previously, Mr Mecca had served as president and CEO of Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas and held senior executive roles at Mandalay Resort Group, Caesars World, Crown and Las Vegas “locals” giant Station Casinos. “breathe life into the facility”. “We spend a great deal of time and energy training our people, not just when they first join us—we have the dealers’ school and training classes when they join—but then on a regular, ongoing basis,” he says. “We have dedicated people in every department who spend their entire time on the floor, and there are impactful behaviors that we monitor that are all geared towards providing the required level of service. You’ll see that every one of the security guards, as you enter, they’ll make a motion of welcome. And the dealers, after each hand, they’ll look up at the customers and make sure everything is okay. Every department in the property participates in the program, and our goal is to provide a level of service second to none in the industry.” Also integral to keeping Galaxy Macau’s employees motivated is the hands-on approach of GEG’s senior management. Mr Mecca is an oft-seen fixture around the property. “It’s about all of us being present,” he notes, “all of us participating with these young people, being out here supporting them every day and being on site with them. So they know that we’re out there too. We’re not hidden up there [in corporate offices], we’re out here with all of them, greeting the guests, supporting them and making sure they have all the tools that they need to get the job done.” A big part of Mr Mecca’s mission, as he saw it, was to take the strong customer service standards established at StarWorld Hotel and Casino, the company’s previous flagship, and transplant them to the much larger Galaxy Macau. “StarWorld has always been one of the most prominent VIP casinos anywhere in the world,” he says, “and our responsibility at Galaxy Macau was to ensure we gave that same level of welcome and memorable experience as our VIPs have always enjoyed with us to our mass players and premium- direct players at Galaxy Macau.” Mr Mecca stresses that in order to provide all guests with the coveted “World Class, Asian Heart” experience promised in its marketing campaigns, Galaxy Macau depends crucially on its 8,000 team members—the people who, in his words, Thirty-six-year-old Lawrence Ho and his partner, James Packer, who turns 45 this month, are the youngest heads of all the Macau casino concessionaires, and it’s that youth that makes Melco Crown Entertainment innovative, according to COO Ted Chan, who is all of 40 years old himself. “We are a very young company with young management,” he says. “One of the characteristics of young people is we are not afraid to try new things.” Mr Chan assumed his current title in February and now oversees both gaming and non-gaming activities across City of Dreams, Altira Macau and Mocha Clubs. For the previous two years he had been co- COO, Gaming, while Nick Naples headed Operations. Nick Naples left the company in conjunction with Mr Chan’s promotion, the culmination of a gradual assumption of all senior roles at the company by Chinese executives. “The young and innovative culture of this company is bolstered by our understanding of the customer,” says Mr Chan. “Because Lawrence Ho and the team are actually Chinese, and we grew up in this part of the world, we feel we understand the behavior of customers here better than anybody else.” It’sadifferentiatingfactor,andforreasons both obvious and subtle, an important one. “For example,” he explains, “if someone from China comes into your property, [even] if you didn’t grow up in this part of the world and study the culture in China, you might be able to recognize that person comes from