The Londoner Macao, the latest addition to Sands China’s Cotai Strip footprint, debuted to great fanfare on May 25.
At the opening ceremony, Las Vegas Sands (LVS) Corp. Chairman and CEO Robert Goldstein hailed company founder Sheldon Adelson, whose vision for the Cotai Strip turned “a 250-acre open space” in the Chinese special administrative region (SAR) into “a world-leading tourist destination.”
Goldstein said the future of the city, which reopened to tourists on January 8 after three years of intermittent Covid shutdowns, “is sure to be even greater,” said Goldstein.
According to Inside Asian Gaming, the US$2 billion Londoner completes a trinity of themed resorts on the site of the former Sands Cotai Central, joining the Venetian Macao and the Parisian Macao. All were conceived by Adelson, who died in 2021 at 89.
“Sands China’s iconic building in Cotai … and our investment in non-gaming elements will have an even more positive effect on the future development of the Cotai Strip,” Goldstein said.
In the Adelson style, the Londoner replicates a number of landmarks from the British capital, including a façade of the Palace of Westminster and Houses of Parliament and a life-size replica of Big Ben that chimes every hour, IAG reported. A glass-clad porte cochère is modeled after the entryway at London’s Victoria Station. There is also a full-scale reproduction of the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain with its Anteros Statue in London’s Piccadilly Circus.
Prior to the grand opening, Goldstein told U.S. media outlet CNBC that Sands China has pledged to spend another MOP$30.2 billion (US$3.8 billion) in Macau over the next 10 years, its current concession term, which will last until January 1, 2033. Ninety-two percent of that, or US$3.5 billion, has been earmarked for non-gaming initiatives.
“We’re here for the long haul and we’ve always been a believer in this market. Our actions speak very loudly,” he said. “We invested billions in this market in 2019 when everyone said you can’t invest before the licenses are renewed. Sheldon never worried about that. He said ‘We’ll be fine in Macau for years to come,’ and we were.
“All these doom-and-gloom forecasts about what was going to happen to the licensing process ended up being nonsense,” Goldstein said. “We have a 10-year license and we hope to be here for many years beyond that and we’ll invest heavily beyond our commitment to the government.”
Goldstein also said gaming revenues are unlikely to return to pre-Covid levels due to the decline of VIP junkets in the city. “Pre-pandemic, we had a very large junket segment, which is now gone. But that segment created very high numbers in terms of revenues although less success in terms of bottom line and EBITDA income.
“We live in a new world today. I don’t know if we’ll reach the same levels of top-line [revenue], but I think we can exceed the EBITDA numbers of 2019. … I don’t have a crystal ball, all I know is the trajectory right now for profitability and revenues is through the roof and everyone is happy with the numbers.”
He added that the new Londoner should appeal to international as well as Chinese customers. In an interview with GGRAsia, he said, “We’re attracting a much stronger international element than I expected. We’re attracting new customers to our brand… The Londoner is causing commotion with people. It’s because it’s a different product.
“Great rooms, great food, great shopping, spa [facilities], business [facilities], gambling, all work in tandem to produce an environment that’s seductive to the customer” said Goldstein. “The Londoner is, I think, the epitome of a new era in Macau of quality investment, quality hotel.”
The opening ceremony was attended by Edmund Ho, the SAR’s first chief executive and now vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC); Lei Wai Nong, Macau’s secretary for Economic and Finance; LVS President and COO Patrick Dumont; Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office; and Wilfred Wong, president of Sands China. Sands Global Ambassador and soccer great David Beckham also attended.
The Londoner Macao adds nearly 6,000 rooms and suites to the Sands’ holdings on Cotai, as well as three spas, four fitness centers and more than 20 restaurants. It also has a convention facility that can host 6,000 guests.
In related news, Goldstein said Sands China is equally committed to its operations in Singapore, where it runs Marina Bay Sands, one of two integrated resorts in the market, along with Resorts World Sentosa: The company has agreed to amp up its investment in the city-state, spending US$3.3 billion in an expansion with a “targeted opening in 2027.” That work is in addition to a US$1.0 billion renovation of existing hotel space at Marina Bay Sands, GGRAsia reported.
Speaking of business in Macau for the year to date, Goldstein said, “People were wondering if 2023 would be a ‘dead’ year for Macau… if it would be another year of ‘zero Covid.’” In fact, he said, “All our hotels are busy again.”
