Macau’s Studio City casino hotel has walked back a plan to exit the VIP rolling chip business.
It’s the second time the Cotai resort said it was ending the program, only to extend it. The first was in early 2019, which resulted in an extension into this year. The latest change will see the program continued until the end of 2021.
At neither point has operator Studio City International Holdings offered a reason, although some analysts have suggested that Melco Resorts and Entertainment, which developed the resort as SCIH’s majority owner, was looking to concentrate its limited allotment of VIP tables at sister casino City of Dreams.
Studio City opened in October 2015 with no VIP play, which Melco Chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho at the time termed a “business decision” related to the number of new-to-market live dealer tables allowed at the property by the Macau government at that time.
Within a year, the company changed tack in response to concerns voiced by analysts about the resort’s slow ramp-up.
The latest extension comes as Studio City continues work on a US$1.3 billion expansion, which is slated for completion by May 2022 but may be delayed as a result of the Covid crisis, Melco has said.
