Wynn Resorts indicates that it has ‘made significant progress towards an early-2027 opening’ for its Wynn Al Marjan Island project in the UAE.
According to the group’s CEO, Craig Billings, construction has now reached the 47th floor of the tower, which is expected to be topped out “later this year”.
“We remain on track for our targeted opening date, and we believe the property will be well positioned as the only integrated resort to open in the near-term into what several analysts have predicted will be a $5 plus billion GGR market,” stated the Chairman and CEO in the earnings call on Wednesday.
“We think this is the most compelling development opportunity in the industry right now,” stated Billings.
During the first quarter of this year, the company contributed some $51.2 million in equity to the Wynn Al Marjan Island project, bringing its total equity contribution to $682.9 million.
Capex for 2025 regarding Wynn Al Marjan is expected to be $350-375 million, while in 2026 this should rise to $350-400 million.
During the conference call, Billings was asked how to rank the opportunity available from three tiers of potential customers for Al Marjan, namely inbound to Ras Al-Khaimah, those living in Dubai and destination luxury customers.
Billings noted that capturing the first group involves “having sufficient amenities to really get one of their four days in Ras Al Khaimah on property”, while looking at the second group as “a lot like a locals market”, requiring the company to “market to those folks in a very specific way” (such as through F&B). For the third group, the CEO indicated that it was very similar to its Vegas business, being a “fly to market as opposed to a locals market”.
The company in its earnings presentation indicated that it now had ‘each of our key division heads in place across all gaming and non-gaming areas’.
The group further indicates that it now has some 49 employees, ‘consisting of mostly senior level executives and senior management’, with expectations to have 327 by the end of this year.
The group’s announcement of its planned acquisition of Crown London Aspinalls also ‘meaningfully enhances our databased building effort given significant VIP overlap between London and the UAE’.
Other opportunities
Regarding other opportunities aside from the UAE, with the possibility of Japan opening up a new bidding cycle for IRs, Billings expressed restraint, noting that “we would only look at Japan if the setup was right”.
“There’s structural challenges in the way that the licensure and ownership have been outlined in Japan”.
Looking at Thailand, the CEO indicated that the entertainment complex bill “has been delayed, and there are some components to the bill that probably won’t work if they stay in the bill”.
The executive furthered that “it’s an amazing potential market with unbelievable airlift, infrastructure, tourism etc”.
Overall, the CEO indicated that “we’ve got plenty of development opportunities”.
