Sands China’s President and Executive Director has noted that Macau will need to increase its hotel room supply in order to fully leverage its MICE capabilities and work towards a non-gaming mix similar to that of Las Vegas.
The statement, made at a British Chamber of Commerce in Macau event, and quoted by Macao News, echoes those made by gaming analysts during the ASEAN Gaming Summit – who also pointed to manpower and transportation issues as major hindrances.
Wilfred Wong noted that the hotel room inventory was “our biggest challenge” in shifting to the non-gaming-centric model, despite the operator currently having the largest supply of hotel rooms in the city, spread across its Venetian, Parisian, Londoner and Four Seasons properties on the Cotai Strip and Sands on Macau’s peninsula.
As reported by Macao News, Wong noted that the government’s planned non-gaming shift “has [already] been part of our development”.
Wong also commented on the neighboring region of Hengqin, where numerous hotel properties are being developed, noting that access to the cooperation zone (lauded by the government as being Macau’s possible expansion) would need to be improved.
