Inside Asian Gaming

IAG AUG 2021年8月 亞博匯 34 COVER STORY There were other benefits from the COVID-19 pandemic too. “Being the first resort to be built on the Strip in over a decade, we had a natural advantage to create the cleanest, safest resort experience in Las Vegas, chock full of new experiences simply because today’s technology and advancements didn’t exist 10 years ago,” explains Sibella. “Our team worked diligently to evaluate the infrastructure and review every touchpoint across the resort through a new lens that is hyper-focused on sanitation and safety. “Although 2020 brought unprecedented hurdles that no one could have predicted, my team remained focused on our goals and unified to overcome any roadblocks.” Aesthetically, RWLV treads that fine line between highlighting its Asian roots and falling into the trap of tacky misrepresentations – a fate that ultimately befell the Chinese-themed Lucky Dragon, which opened in December 2016 only to shut down 14 months later. There is “undeniably an Asian influence” at RWLV, says Bernhard, with subtle nods to world- leading integrated resorts in Singapore and Macau, “but not in a way I think many anticipated at the outset, when we were talking about the possibility of having a panda display and the resort being over- the-top Chinese. “Clearly they boomeranged away from that and back to something more Asian-inspired.” Sibella insists such talk is a common misconception about RWLV. “We never planned to be a themed hotel,” he explains. “The property is a new luxury hotel experience that combines traditional and modern 儘管具有亞洲特色，但RWLV的成功與否很可能——至少 在最初幾年——要依賴於美國客戶。儘管其注重國內市場的中 心或在未來有所轉移。 「肯定更多的是針對美國本地人而非中國遊客，」馬來亞 銀行有限公司股票市場研究部副總監Samuel Yin Shao Yang 認為。 「雲頂在2013年購買這塊土地時，最初計劃對準的是中 國遊客。但2013年後由於中國的反貪腐運動、收緊貨幣政策及 資本管制，拉斯維加斯的百家樂及迷你百家樂市場開始一路走 低，此時雲頂將RWLV的目標群體重新轉為美國本地人。」 「儘管如此，我不認為轉而針對美國市場會對中國遊客有 影響。以永利拉斯維加斯為例，其沒有明顯地以中國遊客市場 為主，但確是中國遊客到訪拉斯維加斯的首選。」 Bernhard認為，最大的問題是，中國豪客何時回歸？ 他表示：「雲頂對他們頗有了解，而且可以說與金光大道上 的其他物業一樣都有迎合。」 「如果回看過去20年間金光大道上的百家樂數據，其實是 一路攀升的。玩家並非來自美國中部或費城，而是來自中國，尤 其是已經接觸過澳門產品的人群。這些玩家知道，『在拉斯維加 斯的樂園裡，還有另外一個版本，有著完全不同的體驗。』所以 百家樂數據一路飆升。」 「隨著RWLV的開業，金光大道的北段或將成為百家樂玩 家的聚集地，那裡目前聚集有RWLV、永利及威尼斯人酒店。而 隨著拉斯維加斯金沙集團的逐步退出（其目前正在出售威尼斯 人酒店及The Palazzo），雲頂更具說服力。」 「但在我們看到那些百家樂數字之前，我認為RWLV要做 到全力運營、功能強大並完全兌現承諾面臨重重困難。」 根據投行Bernstein在6月的一份報告，博彩收入將僅佔