Effect of Macao's 3 casino concessionaires emerges

The effect of three casino concessions in Macao emerged in July, when the three casino operators reported a combined gross revenue of 4.2 billion patacas (525 million US dollars).

The Macao Gaming Co. Ltd's de-facto domination on the casino business in Macao was broken in practice by the opening of the first American casino Las Vegas Sands Macao in May, which was soon followed by the unveiling of the Hong Kong-invested Galaxy Waldo in early July.

Thanks to the fresh attraction of casino entertainment complex generated by the two new comers, Macao's overall casino revenue inJuly rose 70 percent from that of the same period of last year.

Upon an initial operation, the business of the Sands Macao and the Galaxy Waldo was swift by jumping on the bandwagon of Macao's summer tourist boom. Now they are splitting 20 percent of the market share in casino business.

Galaxy successfully bid for one of the three gaming licenses issued by the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) governmentin 2002. By then, the government allowed the Las Vegas Sands Inc, which owns The Venetian Casino Resort, to come in as a sub-concession in Galaxy's bidding.

Assured by the rosy picture, the Hong Kong-based Galaxy Resort and Casino disclosed that the company will kick off its next conceptual plan of the Galaxy StarWorld Casino and the Cotai Mega Resort within this month, which will eventually lift the company's total investment in Macao's casino business to 5 billion patacas (625 million US dollars).

The two new casino projects are scheduled for completion in 2006.

Macao's casino mogul Stanley Ho, whose Macao Gaming Co. Ltd owes 13 casinos operating in Macao, has recently clinched a partnership with America's most dynamic casino operator MGM in profiting its casino concession.

The issuing of the government-licensed casino concessions is fundamentally changing the structure of Macao's gaming market. There are five casino operators running under three concessions now.

In addition to the afore-mentioned casino runners, the next shark will be the Wynn Resort, which is rushing on the ground-breaking works for its exotic theme casino located not far from Stanley Ho's flagship casino, the Hotel Lisboa. The Wynn Macao project is also scheduled for completion in 2006.

Source: Xinhua