NEWS & NOTES

Macau is expected to host both the 2018 and 2019 editions of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards. The former will take place at Wynn Palace Cotai on March 27, 2018.  ?  The 2017 Macao International Parade, marking the 18th anniversary of Macau’s handover to China, will be held December 17. The parade will feature Cantonese opera, theatre, music, martial arts, stilts, oriental and western modern dance and traditional dance. Some 1,200 local and foreign participants are expected to take part.  ?  Universal Entertainment Corp., parent company behind Entertainment City’s Okada Manila, will open its all-weather beach club/nightclub, Cove Manila, in December.The space can accommodate 5,000 guests, the company stated.  ?  The number of Chinese tourists visiting Cambodia rose 45.7 percent year-on-year to 841,340 in the first nine months of 2017, according to Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon. The minister predicts the country will welcome 1 million Chinese tourists in 2017, and double that number by 2020.  ?  Macau’s total population was 648,500 at the end of September, according to information from the Statistics and Census Service. Non-resident workers totaled 176,666 at the end of the third quarter, down more than 2,000 from the previous quarter.  ?  Two hundred and fifty people have been banned from entering Macau casinos on orders from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. Their “erroneous behaviors” included stealing small-denomination casino chips, according to DICJ Director Paulo Martins Chan, who added, “Macau residents are not in the majority.”  ?  The 2017 MGS Entertainment Show and Summit kicked off last week morning with an opening ceremony at the Venetian Macao. More than 300 people attended the event, with its “Smart City” theme. High-tech innovations like robotics, video surveillance, cloud computing and mobile software applications were the focus.  ?  In his 2018 policy address on November 14, Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On said the government will establish a long-term mechanism for disaster prevention and mitigation in the aftermath of Typhoon Hato, the strongest typhoon to hit the city in more than 60 years. Chief among the initiatives will be revised flood-prevention projects in the city’s low-lying areas.  ?  Resorts World Manila’s Maxim’s hotel will be rebranded as the Philippines’ first Ritz Carlton. Sources indicate the change will happen sometime before 2021. Marriott International, owner of the Ritz-Carlton brand, says the new hotel will serve affluent Chinese travelers.  ?  O.J. Simpson’s attorney says his client has been banned from The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Simpson, who was released from a Nevada prison last month after serving nine years for armed robbery and assault with a weapon in a dispute over memorabilia, recently received a “trespass notice” while at the hotel, Malcolm LaVergne told The Associated Press. The lawyer said no reason was given for the ban. The Cosmopolitan declined to comment.  •  Five months after an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease was reported at the Rio in Las Vegas, the number of confirmed cases of the pneumonia-like illness among guests of the off-Strip resort has risen to seven, with 29 more cases suspected, the Southern Nevada Health District said. The Health District said the hotel also was the scene of 56 suspected cases of Pontiac fever, a milder flu-like illness caused by the same bacteria. Cleaning and testing of the hotel’s water system is ongoing, officials with the agency said.  •  A driverless shuttle was involved in a traffic accident earlier this month on its maiden voyage in Downtown Las Vegas. The free shuttle, which runs with a mix of cameras, GPS and on-board sensors, was on the road for about an hour and was stopped when it was struck by a delivery truck. News reports said the eight passengers on the bus were unhurt, and the vehicle suffered only slight damage. Metro Police cited the truck driver for a minor traffic violation.  •  Clark County, Nevada, expects to finish installing 800 protective steel posts along the Las Vegas Strip by New Year’s Eve to protect pedestrians from motor vehicle attacks. The bollards, as they’re called, will cover an area from Tropicana Avenue to Spring Mountain Road. In all, the county has approved installation of 7,500 of the barriers.  •  The American Gaming Association has joined a coalition of business-related organizations emphasizing the need to maintain full interest deductibility for growth investments in tax-reform legislation being debated in Senate and House committees. The 14-member Businesses United for Interest and Loan Deductibility Coalition sent letters to Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) respectively the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee to preserve interest deductibility in tax reform legislation expected to be completed by Christmas. “In addition to having a negative impact on economic growth, limits to interest deductibility amount to a harmful new tax on businesses that borrow to invest and grow,” the coalition’s letter says.  •  The Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s council voted last month to expand hospitality amenities at both its Casino Del Sol and Casino of the Sun for an undisclosed cost. This will include 150 additional hotel rooms, 90 RV sites and a 9,600-square foot expansion of the convention space at Casino Del Sol and a new 11,000 SF Event Center next to the Casino of the Sun. The architect will be the Cuningham Group of Las Vegas.  • The Chemehuevi Tribe of California, operators of the Havasu Landing Resort and Casino, held a groundbreaking last week in Havasu Lake for its second casino. The 25,000 square-foot facility will have 320 slots, a 48-room hotel and restaurant. This groundbreaking was postponed from April 2016. The tribe has not said why the schedule changed.  •  Money that the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians has agreed to pay the San Jacinto Unified School District in connection with its Soboba Casino will help fund a new pool for San Jacinto High School. The pool will be part of the Soboba Aquatic Center.   The tribe will be paying $1 million to the district in lieu of developers fees and property taxes that it would pay if the casino were not on sovereign tribal land.