Sands China Ltd said it celebrated on Thursday the 1.1-billion -visitor milestone for its Macau resorts, coinciding with the 18th anniversary of its Venetian Macao property, the first major gaming complex in Cotai, and which opened in August 2007.
The Macau operation of the parent, Las Vegas Sands Corp, launched its first venue in the city – the casino hotel Sands Macao – on the peninsula, in 2004.
Thursday’s statement noted that The Plaza Macao, Sands Cotai Central, and The Parisian Macao, opened respectively in 2008, 2012, and 2016 in Cotai. Sands Cotai Central was subsequently upgraded and remodelled with a new theme, to become The Londoner Macao, which reopened in phases from February 2021 amid the Covid-19 pandemic
Wilfred Wong Ying Wai, executive vice chairman of Sands China, and who attended a Thursday ceremony (pictured) to welcome the milestone guest , was cited as saying in a press release: “Surpassing 1.1 billion arrivals is not only a significant milestone for the company, but also a testament to the popularity of Macau’s tourism offerings and the vitality and sustainability of its economic development.”
Mr Wong also mentioned the role of China’s central government and the Macau government in supporting the city’s tourism development, and praised the “concerted efforts of our 27,000 team members, and the solidarity of over 2,500 suppliers,” for the success of the company.
Also present at Thursday’s guest-presentation ceremony was Grant Chum Kwan Lock, the company’s chief executive and executive director.
The firm’s statement said Sands China’s cumulative investment in Macau had exceeded MOP134.5 billion (US$16.71 billion currently), making it a “consistent contributor to the city’s development as a world centre of tourism and leisure”. That was reference to a policy aspiration of the local government.
The statement said the company’s Macau resorts offered in total “over 10,000 hotel rooms, 150 dining options, and 760 retail outlets”, as well as 150,000 square metres (1.61 million sq. feet) of meeting space, and “two arenas and four theatres for international entertainment performances, with a total seating capacity of over 25,000”.
