GGRAsia – Dubai resort exec recruited at City of Dreams, floor changes

Dubai resort exec recruited at City of Dreams, floor changes

Apr 30, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Tim Kelly (pictured) has been appointed as new property president of Macau casino resort City of Dreams, said on Tuesday Lawrence Ho Yau Lung, chairman and chief executive of the venue’s promoter, Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd.

The new executive was most recently president at Atlantis Global, a major non-gaming tourism resort of Kerzner International, located in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

According to an internal memo from Melco Resorts, Mr Kelly will start work “on or about August 1,” and will report to Evan Winkler, group president and managing director.

Mr Ho stated on Melco Resorts’ first-quarter earnings call, that Mr Kelly had “achieved great success in building the Atlantis brand since joining them [Kerzner] in 2017”.

The Melco Resorts chairman added: “He has a unique blend of skills and experience that we believe positions him perfectly to lead this next chapter of City of Dreams”.

Melco Resorts posted a first-quarter net proft attributable to shareholders of US$15.2 million, compared to a net loss of US$81.3 million in the opening quarter of 2023.

Evan Winkler mentioned on Tuesday’s call some of the operational changes that had already taken place at City of Dreams, the group’s Cotai flagship, following group management changes initiated earlier in the year. They included building business in the premium mass gambling segment.

He stated: “When we went through our management shift, Lawrence has really directed the team to regain our leadership position with a premium mass.”

Mr Winkler added: “We’ve been taking a look at really every aspect of our business from a customer-centric perspective to make sure that our product and service offerings and our gaming experience is commensurate with that leadership position.”

“If you specifically go onto the floor at City of Dreams, you’re going to see that already we’ve moved the electronic product and consolidated that on the end of the floor,” nearest to the resort’s Grand Hyatt Macau hotel, he added.

In the location where those electronic games had previously been, “we’ve added tables,” stated Mr Winkler.

He said additionally that the company had arranged for a “better flow of customers into a premium area”. The property had also offered “free flowing… food and beverage” to gaming customers.

Dancing Water reboot, Macau sales system

On the call, Geoff Davis, Melco Resorts’ chief financial officer, affirmed that The House of Dancing Water – a previously long-running stage show at City of Dreams and that had been a pre-pandemic favourite with Chinese visitors – was to relaunch “towards the end of the year”.

Mr Winkler also spoke about some of the work to shake up Melco Resorts’ sales system, a step that had been flagged on the fourth-quarter earnings call in February.

He observed: “Prior to our latest management reshuffle, we had a sales team focused on City of Dreams and a sales team focused on Studio City.

“What we weren’t doing was delivering the entire system – everything that we have – to all of our players. So, by centralising it… and having one person who’s looking at the entire sales picture, we’re doing a better job making sure we get the right experience for the right guest, irrespective of which property they’re going to.”

Mr Winkler added: “For example, if you’re a City of Dreams player and you typically come and stay at Morpheus [hotel], but this time you’re going to come with your children and you’d like to go to the [Studio City] water park, we’re flipping you over to Epic [Tower at Studio City] and providing you a premium experience. And we’re doing that in a way where we’re trying to make sure it’s seamless for the guests.”

(Updated 10.53am, May 2)