Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | March 2013 26 INSIGHTS S heldon Adelson’s reputation in the field of conventions is believed to have been a deciding factor in the Macau government awarding him a casino license back in 2002. The first step towards delivering on the convention promise was providing 100,000 square meters of MICE [meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions] space at The Venetian Macao, which opened in August 2007. But the effort to position Macau as Asia’s leading MICE destination was hindered until recently by a shortage of hotel rooms in the city. LVS’ local subsidiary, Sands China, has been the most bullish developer of hotel capacity among the six casino operators in Macau—with an inventory of 9,000 rooms and counting, including nearly 6,000 rooms at Sands Cotai Central, which opened in April 2012. The underlying motivation for building all those rooms, according to Venetian Macau Ltd Vice President of Sales and Resort Marketing Brendon Elliott is to “turn Macau really into the No. 1 conferences and exhibitions destination in Asia by 2020. So what we’re doing is creating the facilities that will enable us to be able to meet that demand by 2020.” Mr Elliott is responsible for overseeing all meetings, incentives and leisure activities for Sands China Ltd. Inside Asian Gaming spoke to him about the task ahead. IAG : Apart from the room inventory and meetings space, what else is needed in order to support the mission to turn Macau into a major MICE hub? Mr Elliott : Shopping is a key attraction with regards to mainland China. It’s that accessibility, that duty-free component, and the Sands China, has been the most bullish developer of hotel capacity among the six casino operators in Macau—with an inventory of 9,000 rooms and counting, including 6,000 rooms at Sands Cotai Central, opened last year. Delivering on the MICE Promise Venetian Macau Ltd Vice President of Sales and Resort Marketing Brendon Elliott discusses Sands China’s mission to turn Macau into a leading regional center for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions