NEWS & NOTES

City of Dreams Manila’s new Garage entertainment and dining hub, complete with a virtual reality zone, was the brainchild of COO Kevin Benning’s 11 year-old daughter, who like playing in Bandai Namco Amusement’s VR Zone in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Benning said the district “blazes a trail in delivering an extraordinary entertainment experience that goes beyond gaming and recreation in the Philippines.” ● Guangdong-Macau Cooperative Development Fund Management has signed a contract with Zhuhai Da Heng Qin Property Co. to complete Phase I of Hengqin Science City by 2021. The development is envisioned as a world-class urban scientific and technological park. Construction began in August. ● On November 10 and 11, MGM China presented its seventh International Lion Dance Championship in Macau. The competition featured the best lion dance troupes from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam as well as Australia, Myanmar and the United States. This year’s event also introduced Macau’s first Junior Lion Dance competition. ● Some 78,300 passengers crossed the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge’s Hong Kong checkpoint on November 3, exceeding the 78,000 passengers recorded on October 28, during the bridge’s first weekend of operations. The HKZM Bridge, the longest in the world, opened October 23. • The National Indian Gaming Commission is one of the best places in the government to work in terms of employee satisfaction, according to the 2018 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. The survey showed that 88 percent of the commission’s staff were satisfied with their work. It also showed that there was a 14 percent increase in satisfaction between 2017-2018. • The New Mexico Racing Commission will decide in early December whether and to who to issue the state’s sixth and last racetrack license. It could pick an applicant or chose not to award the license at all.   The commission will meet November 15 for a possible vote. At that time, it could review a feasibility study for a new track. Three groups have filed competing proposals for a track and casino in Clovis, with another application for Tucumcari and one for Lordsburg. • Las Vegas’ Culinary Union and the D Las Vegas and Golden Gate have reached agreement on a five-year collective bargaining agreement covering 400 employees at the two jointly owned Downtown casino hotels. The two are the last resorts in the city to finalize negotiations with the union since its old contract expired on June 1. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed. • The Las Vegas Strip’s first zip line amusement ride opened last week connecting the Linq Promenade with the High Roller Observation Wheel. Fly Linq, a Caesars Entertainment project, is open daily, carrying riders as high as 1,080 feet in either a seated or horizontal “superhero-style” position. It is the city’s third zip line attraction. The first, Slotzilla, opened on Fremont Street in 2014. West of the Strip the Voodoo Zip Line launches riders between the two hotel towers of the Rio All-Suite Las Vegas Hotel & Casino. • Site work is under way near the Las Vegas Convention Center for a new dual-branded hotel and extended-stay residential complex consisting of a 150-room Hampton Inn & Suites and a 100-room Home2Suites. The $55 million project, slated to open in March 2020, also will contain indoor parking. • Park MGM on the Las Vegas Strip plans to hire 500 people to staff a new Italian-style food court called Eataly. Scheduled to open in December, Eataly will feature sit-down and casual dining, coffee bars, wine bars, gelato bars and retail shopping. • Washington, D.C. news station WTOP reports that MGM National Harbor is the fifth-highest revenue generator among the 15 U.S. casino properties of MGM Resorts International. The property, on the Maryland side of the Potomac River across from Washington, D.C., has dominated the Maryland market since its opening two years ago. In September, the property accounted for nearly 38 percent of the $144.8 million in gaming revenues generated by all six of the state’s casinos. • Japanese gaming giant Sega Sammy Holdings says the company is seeing strong growth at its Korean integrated resort, Paradise City, after reporting improved results in its resorts segment in the second quarter of its 2019 financial year. Publishing its quarterly results announcement and company presentation on its website over the weekend, Sega Sammy reported a 60 percent increase in sales at Paradise City in the three months ending September 30 to KRW64 billion (US$57.2 million), up from KRW40 billion 12 months earlier. Sales for the first six months of the 2019 financial year are up 108.1 percent to KRW 129 billion. Sega Sammy owns 45 percent of Paradise City as part of a joint venture with Korean casino operator Paradise Co.