Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming September 2015 38 Matt Bekier took the boss’ chair at Echo Entertainment two months before good things started to happen for Australia’s second- largest casino operator. Mr Bekier took over as CEO last April after serving as Tabcorp’s chief financial officer and assuming the same role at Echo when the betting giant spun off its casinos in Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast in 2011. Seen initially as a safe choice for the job, he’s brought a fresh energy and confidence to a company sorely in need of it. When he took over, Echo already knew that come 2019 it would be losing its Sydney monopoly at The Star to rival Crown Resorts. It would shortly be facing the prospect of major new competition as well in Gold Coast, its other key market, from an IR proposal the government of Queensland would approve for the popular holiday spot. Then, last June, Echo leapt to the offensive, securing a partnership with Hong Kong multinationals Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium that would turn back Crown’s assault on its exclusive license in Brisbane and win for the new joint venture the right to develop a A$1 billion integrated resort with a casino in the Queensland capital. The victory may prove key to Echo’s ability to hold its own as competition heats up Down Under for the burgeoning Chinese tourist market. It is, moreover, Echo’s first greenfield development, and Mr Bekier & Co. are eager to show what they can do. Plans call for an expansive, all-inclusive destination that will serve as the catalyst for the revitalization of the city’s central Queen’s Wharf Matt Bekier Managing Director and CEO Echo Entertainment district with parklands and public event space the size of 12 football fields and accessible via a new bridge over the Brisbane River that will integrate the resort with 2,000 new apartments, sports facilities and a variety of heritage sites. There will be 50 fine dining and casual restaurants and cafes and several theaters and showrooms in the resort core. Ritz-Carlton and Rosewood will be lending their brands to two of five hotels, 1,100 rooms and suites in all, clustered around an architectural centerpiece known as the Arc, which will feature an observation deck and rooftop cinema, an Infinity pool overlooking the river, an upscale events venue and a casino. Some 2,000 jobs will be created in the construction phase, which is scheduled to begin in 2017. More than 8,000 people will be employed when the resort opens in 2022. To herald its arrival Mr Bekier has embarked on a new, unified brand strategy for the company, which will be changing its name later this year to The Star Entertainment Group. Revenue and earnings have improved significantly in his first year at the helm, and the company is moving full speed ahead on a $345 million expansion and remodeling of Jupiters Hotel & Casino Gold Coast, soon to be known as The Star, Gold Coast. “We have created stability and momentum in the business,” he said, “and are embarking on significant capital works programs at all our properties to ensure that as a group we will own and operate truly world-class integrated resorts.” Clarence Chung has been a busy man since Melco Crown Entertainment’s US$1.3 billion City of Dreams Manila debuted in February as the second mega-resort to set up shop at the Philippine government’s Entertainment City tourist district on Manila Bay. His ramp-up of the expansive 940-room casino hotel complex—a Clarence Chung Chairman and President Melco Crown Philippines Chairman and CEO Entertainment Gaming Asia