Melco Crown Scheduled To Open $3.2 Billion Macau Casino In October
Macau is the biggest gambling hub in the world and home to some of the biggest casino brands in the world. The casino industry in Macau has been in decline for the last 18 months due to the anti-corruption crackdown launched by Beijing that specifically targets VIP gamblers and corrupt official who spend large sums of money at Macau’s casinos.
This anti-corruption crackdown scared away Macau’s VIP gamblers who were responsible for generating more than 50% of all casino revenue. Macau’s casino industry reportedly lost more than $100 billion during 2014 and continues to lose money in 2015 as there are no signs of Beijing relaxing its anti-corruption crackdown anytime soon.
This market slump has caused serious concern for Macau’s gambling establishments as some of the biggest brands in the world have collectively invested around $27 billion in construction new casinos that are scheduled to open during the next couple of years. Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd is one such company who has invested $3.2 billion to construct a mega-casino resort that is scheduled to open in October 2015.
Billionaires James Packer and Lawrence Ho control the Melco Crown Entertainment and have invested heavily to promote the new Macau casino ‘Studio City‘ as they want to ensure it establishes a strong customer base right at the start. Melco has already invested $70 million to make a promotional film that stars veteran Hollywood actors Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. The short film was short by top producer Martin Scorsese and is expected to promote the new Macau casino all across the world.
Melco has also designed the resort to include a number of entertainment facilities in keeping with Macau’s new policy of making things more family oriented. The new resort will have a 40,000 square foot indoor player center that will have a number of interesting rides and interactive Warner Bros characters like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck to entertain children.
In a statement, Lawrence Ho, co-chairman of Melco Crown said
Macau is going through a transitional phase from a very VIP gaming centric market to more mass focused. It’s probably going to be a rough second half
Ho also remains positive that Macau will slowly relax its strict laws and once again encourage the casino industry to flourish. The Macau government took a step in this direction recently when it relaxes its visa policies towards Mainland Chinese nationals that now allow them to stay in Macau for a longer period of time.
