GGRAsia – Londoner Macao pulls in foreigners and Chinese: LVS CEO

Londoner Macao pulls in foreigners and Chinese: LVS CEO

May 25, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

The Londoner Macao casino resort’s British theme is a big draw for international as well as Chinese customers, as Macau recovers from the impact of nearly three years of travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, says Robert Goldstein (pictured), chairman and chief executive of the resort’s parent company Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS). He was speaking in an interview in Macau on Thursday with GGRAsia.

“We’re attracting a much stronger international element than I expected. We’re attracting new customers to our brand… The Londoner is causing commotion with people. It’s because it’s a different product. It’s a very unique product,” stated Mr Goldstein, who is also chairman and chief executive of the Macau operating unit, Sands China Ltd.

His visit to Macau marked a formal launch event on Thursday for The Londoner Macao, including an opening for its 6,000 seat arena. The resort as a whole represents the rebranding and major reconfiguring of a Cotai venue that used to be known as Sands Cotai Central. It now features the architecture of the Palace of Westminster in London, including the clock tower popularly known as Big Ben.

In terms of gambling customers to Macau, Mr Goldstein noted regarding the period since the easing of travel and other Covid-19-related restrictions in early January: “What I’m learning is it’s a new Macau and the recovery here is different than I thought it would be. It’s also been fuelled more by the premium mass and the rolling [chip VIP players]. The base mass is yet to really come back in the strength. I thought that would lead the parade.”

The group chairman added: “The biggest surprise to me is the international business is stronger, and the rolling side, the premium mass business is very strong… across the board.”

Sands China’s non-rolling table win in the mass market was US$911 million in the opening quarter of 2023, compared to US$354 million a year earlier. It was about 60 percent of first-quarter 2019 levels, said parent Las Vegas Sands in April. Slot win reached US$118 million, up from US$29 million a year ago, and circa 77 percent of 2019 levels.

Rolling win in the VIP segment stood at 23 percent of pre-pandemic levels, at US$155 million in the first quarter of 2023.

Asked about what was bringing foreign customers to The Londoner Macao, Mr Goldstein stated it was the quality of the overall product mix.

“Great rooms, great food, great shopping, spa [facilities], business [facilities], gambling, all work in tandem to produce an environment that’s seductive to the customer,” stated Mr Goldstein. “The Londoner is, I think, the epitome of a new era in Macau of quality investment, quality hotel” product.

In terms of type of customer in the recovering Macau market, the chairman suggested the variety was wide. “They’re free independent travellers, they’re gamblers, they’re premium mass, they’re tourists, they’re Chinese and non-Chinese,” he observed.

As part of the Macau government’s tender process for new 10-year gaming concessions, bidders were asked to create plans and pledge investment on a number of issues, including bringing in more customers from overseas. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Macau was overwhelmingly a Chinese tourism market, with mainland China and Hong Kong accounting for 89.6 percent of Macau’s 39.4-million visitor arrivals in 2019, according to Macau government data.

British approach

The Londoner Macao had a first-phase opening in February 2021, though during the interim period up to January this year, business Macau-wide was disrupted by the pandemic.

Summing up trading in the year so far, the Las Vegas Sands boss observed: “People were wondering if 2023 would be a ‘dead’ year for Macau… if it would be another year of ‘zero Covid’.” In fact, he noted, “all our hotels are busy again”.

“The old Sands Cotai Central was kind of a confusing product. This [The Londoner Macao] is a very singular focus in the British approach,” Mr Goldstein noted.

He added: “The Londoner, I think, is a statement about our commitment to the Macau market.”

‘If people from Singapore or Malaysia or Indonesia want to come to Macau, what drives that demand is great product,” stated Mr Goldstein.

Referring to the group’s original 20-year Macau gaming concession and the new-concession process last year, the chairman and CEO stated: “We invested a lot of capital pre-licence renewal, pre-pandemic, and we’re now seeing the fruits of those efforts.”

The Londoner Macao features five accommodation products: The Londoner Hotel, Londoner Court, Conrad Macao, The St Regis Macao and Sheraton Grand Macao. According to the property’s website, it has a total 6,000 hotel rooms and suites, and 111,480 square metres (nearly 1.2 million sq. feet) allocated for shops, entertainment, restaurants, and meetings and conventions space.