Inside Asian Gaming

IAG MAR 2020年3月 亞博匯 74 FEATURES with customers in an appropriate way and establish a very strong business. So that hasn’t served to be a substantial handicap for us. CONVENTIONAL WISDOM MC: Why is MICE uniquely successful here? GT: Singapore was already known globally as a great place to conduct MICE events. They had very strong facilities here, before we arrived, but what the government recognized – and this was quite visionary – is that even though they were strong in this area, they could get stronger. They recognized also that the most attractive MICE space for event organizers or delegates who attend those events is MICE space that is situated in an integrated resort because of everything that’s wrapped around it and the whole convenience factor. So we designed something that we thought was appropriate for this market. Our Chairman Sheldon Adelson has been in the MICE industry for over 40 years in different areas of the business, and with his guidance and vision, we were able to put together a MICE facility that has been so popular that we are space constrained. As a result, we saw an opportunity to expand Marina Bay Sands to include additional MICE space, and fortunately we have been given that opportunity. I give credit to our team and to the strength of the business model for being able to make the MICE business so strong here. MC: Let’s talk about the expansion. GT: Since we opened, our annual occupancy rate in the hotel has ranged from 94% to 99%. That’s a signal to us that there’s more demand for our hotel rooms than we can satisfy. So we’ll build a hotel tower that has 900 to 1,000 rooms. Every year we do around 70 exhibitions in our existing space, and we can’t do any more. So we need more exhibition space. Similarly, our ballroom is in high demand, and we’re not able to accommodate all of the business that comes our way. So the expansion project will have a significant ballroom in it. The famous SkyPark has made Marina Bay Sands the most Instagrammed hotel in the world. 著名的SkyPark使濱海灣金沙酒店成為全球最受歡迎的打卡酒店。