On July 30, Macau casino concessionaire SJM Holdings opened the doors of its $5 billion Grand Lisboa Palace in Macau’s Cotai district. The opulent resort complex includes a self-branded hotel, the first and largest of three towers; a Karl Lagerfeld-branded hotel and the Palazzo Versace Macau will open in phases as conditions permit.
With the opening, SJM has fulfilled its long-held determination to establish a presence in Cotai. But it accomplished the goal long after the city’s five other concessionaires opened properties there, and it opened as Macau and surrounding markets struggle to keep a step ahead of Covid-19.
Despite the upheaval, the head of SJM’s board of directors told GGRAsia the company expects to break even in a year “or less,” despite the virus.
“Of course we will strive” to achieve that milestone more quickly, said Daisy Ho, daughter of late SJM founder Stanley Ho. “But there are external factors that we cannot control.”
“A monumental amount of effort has gone into making this project a reality and it is our aim to diversify Macau’s tourism landscape by bringing in unique elements,” said Ho, who attended the debut with other SJM officers: Managing Director Angela Leong and Directors Dr. Ambrose So, Maisy Ho and Arnaldo Ho. A Chinese Bai Sun blessing ceremony marked the opening.
According to Travel Weekly Asia, the luxurious new resort “pays homage to Macau’s cross-cultural heritage,” which is a blend of Chinese and Portuguese. The luxury hotel features European neoclassical elements and nods to the Belle Époque period along with traditional Chinese motifs.
A total of 1,350 rooms and suites “sport a contemporary and Chinoiserie-inspired design dotted with bespoke art pieces depicting old and new Macau. The European-styled gardens ‘Jardim Secreto’, which is reserved for guests only, also doubles as an outdoor event venue,” the publication noted.
The resort offers indoor and outdoor temperature-controlled swimming pools in Macanese and Baroque designs, state-of-the-art gym, and six food and beverage outlets, with more to open. The restaurants also blend multiple cultures, with Portuguese fare at Mesa along with the classic tea house Chalou and Taiwanese hotpot at Wulao.
A centerpiece of the meeting area is the 15,000-square-foot Grand Pavilion, a massive sunlit space with built-in projection mapping technology and room for up to 1,500 guests.
The spectacular setting was designed to attract mass-market players, and SJM is set to reallocate 118 gaming tables from other properties to Grand Lisboa Palace. At least two floors within the Karl Lagerfeld hotel tower have been dedicated to VIP gaming, while one floor within the Grand Lisboa Palace Hotel tower is also reserved for VIPs.
Opening of the second phase will depend on the pandemic and travel restrictions. Travel rules between Macau and Mainland China were retightened in late July due to new Covid-19 infections on the mainland.
Ambrose So commented, “I think the mere fact that we are open means there will be incremental interest from consumers.”
The license terms of the six concessionaires—a group that also includes Wynn Macau, Sands China, Melco Resorts and Entertainment, Galaxy and MGM China—are due to expire in June of next year, with a new public tender to follow. It’s generally anticipated that the government will postpone the public tender due to the faltering economic situation in Macau.
“I hope that, at least, these works can be well organized and planned and that the government does not insist on opening the tender in a time of economic recession,” he said.
According to the Macau Daily Times, lawmaker Ng Kuok Cheong asked his peers in the legislative assembly to delay the date for at least two more years. Adriano Ho, director of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), only said that the government was focusing on improvements to the legal framework that regulates the gaming industry. Those improvements will “strengthen supervision, promote the development of gaming and non-gaming elements and create favorable conditions for the continuous and healthy development of the gaming industry.”
Asia Gaming Brief reported that the new flagship in Cotai saw a steady flow of traffic in its opening hours, but it was “a far cry from the throngs of visitors witnessed at the opening of the seven other integrated resorts on the Cotai Strip.”
Brokerage Sanford C. Bernstein said in a recent note that August GGR is will be negatively affected by Covid restrictions. “However, this is likely a few weeks of impact rather than a game-changer,” the firm wrote. “We do not believe this situation impacts the further eventual reopening of Macau. In fact it may well accelerate vaccination uptake in Macau.”
The vaccine rollout was surprisingly slow to start. On August 2, Macau health official Tai Wa Hou urged locals to avoid non-essential travel “beyond Guangdong Province” for now. He said a surge in Covid-19 infections on the mainland involved the more infectious Delta variant. Also, authorities in Macau locked down part of the city after a family of four were infected with the Delta variant. That incident prompted the city to apply “immediate prevention” measures including mandatory testing of the entire population. On Friday, GGRAsia reported that some non-gaming facilities at casino resorts had been shut down as a result of the latest breakout.
