Inside Asian Gaming

FEBRUARY 2016 inside asian gaming 9 Cover Story season periods such as China’s Golden Week holidays at the start of May and October, when Mr Wong calls room rates “insane” at MOP$4,000 to $5,000 a night. “However, during most days of the year, the rooms are quite affordable ranging from a few hundred to a couple thousand [patacas].” “Macau is relatively affordable,” Mr Wieners concurs. “While accommodation prices are up and down, I don’t currently consider this a crux to mass market success.” He believes, “The bigger issue, more than price, is access to the amenities, infrastructure – for example, adequate transport services – and a generally welcoming experience for a lower spend customer than was previously the key target of operators.” Studies Assistant Professor IpKin Anthony Wong argues there’s “no empirical evidence” that tourists like the Macau style dining featured at Broadway. Moreover, for visitors that do like the concept, Mr Wong contends, “The scale of the offerings is small, and things are not cheap.” With similar options abundant around town, Mr Wong feels Broadway Macau “lacks novelty and the wow factor.” Hogo’sMrWieners suggests “diversification of the food and beverage offerings through introduction of [additional] concepts, both Chinese and Western, could make Broadway a hit.” He also says Broadway can make better use of its other facilities to stimulate interest. “The concert hall looks great, but there are so many other types of entertainment not yet available that could be offered at this location to drive both an inbound tourist as well as a domestic Macau and Hong Kong crowd,” he says. Then there’s the immutable law of real estate: “I don’t think the location has helped,” Mr Wieners says. Broadway is off the beaten path in Cotai and best reached from sister property Galaxy via a footbridge with a moving walkway. Galaxy management has tried to mitigate the location issue by offering free two hour parking at Broadway and says that move has doubled its arrivals by car. However, not many middle market tourists come to Macau by car. China’s middle class will expand to as many as half a billion people within a decade, and that group that will account for the bulk of the projected 200 million Chinese outbound travelers annually expected by 2020. The question that’s most relevant is how many of those middle class travelers, not only from China but the rest of Asia, will drop into Macau….