Macau not to suffer

Michael Leven, President and COO, Las Vegas Sands Corp.: “I think that the size of the market for Macau and for Singapore really prevents any cannibalisation.”

Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands “is the biggest individual single investment” that Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) has, but Macau will not suffer with the competition. “We have actually more money invested in Macau than we have invested in Singapore, because there we have more than one facility,” president and chief operating office, Michael Leven, told reporters yesterday.
Earlier, LVS chairman Sheldon Adelson had already said that Singapore and Macau are different markets. According to the gaming tycoon, “it is to soon to know if Singapore has stolen some business from Macau.” “Macau is serving Hong Kong, Taiwan and southeast China... They are two different markets and they appeal to two different constituencies,” he added.
Without doing predictions, Leven believes that some of the business “will go back and forward between Macau and Singapore.” “Some people from Hong Kong will come here to visit the city and gambling, and some of the local people will go to Macau for the same reasons.
“I think that the size of the market for Macau and for Singapore really prevents any cannibalisation,” he explained.
For the company COO, “The more places you built the more generation of activities you have.” “We’re in the world best markets today, we have the growth of the economy and the distribution of wealth, and this is the only place in the world where this is happening and that will provide us more customers,” he added.

Taiwan would be a bigger competitor

Aiming at different markets, Taiwan is also a potential opportunity for LVS. But that, Leven says, would mean real competition for the MSAR.
“Today, 90 percent of the Macau market comes from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. So, if anyone builds [a casino] in Taiwan that would affect the Macau market. There’s no question about that,” he said
However, he added, that will not happen in the coming years. “I predict that there will be gaming in Taiwan, but I don’t think it’s going to come anytime soon. As long as the Taiwanese economy stays vibrant, I don’t think they will look into that.”
The MICE market in also an interesting bet. “That segment is emerging strongly in China. You’ll see more proliferation of business meetings, conventions and business travel as the market matures.
“I think that the future of that market will be very significant for Macau. We believe in that and we have our investment to prove it,” he said.
Yet, the MICE market seems to be struggling in Macau. “It doesn’t work because Macau is known as a gaming destination. We’ve invested for years to try to change that in the Venetian. You can’t become a convention destination without facilities,” Leven stressed.
The fact that the VIP gaming is overwhelming the mass market and MICE numbers, makes people “not wanting to waste time” with other activities. “We’re working on it because we made an investment for the future, the others are making primarily an investment in the present,” he concluded.