With competition in the Asian gaming resort market growing daily, casinos that provide their customers with a personalized experience will stand out from their competitors, according to Tom Wucherer, chief executive of YWS Design and Architecture.
Interviewed by GGRAsia Wucherer noted that his company has offices in both Las Vegas and Singapore, the better to provide design services for the international market in hospitality, gaming, retail, dining and entertainment. Its customers have included Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MGM International Resorts and recently designed the Crown Towers Perth in Australia.
He commented, “The Asian region is evolving quickly. It didn’t matter how well they the resorts were built in the past]because demand outstripped the supply.”
These days it’s different. “But Asia now as a whole is really getting to that tipping point where capacity is getting to a certain threshold, where you actually have to start paying closer attention to not only the aesthetics but the product and the mix you are offering,” said Wucherer. “The margins for error get much tighter.”
Since it takes half of a decade or longer to develop a property developers must be able to predict consumer trends. “I’d rather arrive to a market slightly early than slightly late,” he says.
Asian casino resorts should offer “a dichotomy of inclusiveness and exclusivity” by breaking them down into “more intimate settings. Asian casinos are moving away from the huge gaming hall filled with thousands of people.
Wucherer emphasizes the importance of modern casinos integrating electronic devices into the design of resorts to interface with the fact that most people are tied to their Smartphones like a third hand.
Casinos in Macau offer a different style to the rest of Asia, he says.
“When you look at the resorts in the greater Asian region, it’s much more about authentic experiences, relaxation… and immersion in the local environment but Macau is something entirely different,” he said. “Macau will continue to put much bigger projects in place with much bigger environments but I think the challenge here is to diversify the offerings.”
