Sands China Keen To Open The Londoner Macau Before Feb 2021 In Time For CNY
Sands China was expected to strengthen its presence in the Macau Peninsula this year by opening its highly promoted ‘The Londoner’ casino. This new casino located in the Cotai district was developed based on the ‘City of London’ theme and was scheduled to open in July 2020.
However, COVID-19 not only disrupted Sands China’s plans of opening The Londoner but also caused a lot of disruption to Macau’s gaming industry. Things are slowly getting back to normal in Macau and the casino industry is looking to recoup their losses.
The Londoner was designed to specially cater to VIP gamblers who are known to spend millions of dollars. The former Holiday Inn Cotai hotel has been redesigned to offer special suites to high-rollers and give them all of the luxuries that they like to enjoy.
Wilfred Wong Ying Wai, President of Sands China said that they would like to have The Londoner up and running in time for Chinese New Year (CNY) which is the biggest festival in China. This would mean that The Londoner must open in late Jan or early Feb 2021 to be ready to start accepted bookings for CNY which starts on Feb 12.
Londoner Macao 澳門倫敦人
The Londoner’s strategy of focusing on VIP gamblers might end up backfiring in 2021 as gaming analysts predict that the high-roller sector will be the last sector to recover after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sands China Needs The Londoner To Succeed
Las Vegas Sands Corp. which is the parent company of Sands China has relied heavily on its Macau operations in the past. Sands China has a number of casinos in the Macau peninsula. Some of the casinos include Sands Macao, Plaza Macao, Parisian Macao and the Venetian Macao.
Sands China has pumped in $2.2 billion to develop The Londoner and the Four Seasons and is keen on seeing this investment payoff. However, it would depend on the Macau government lifting the travel restrictions and removing the strict social distancing guidelines.
Macau’s casinos have witnessed a major decline in gross gaming revenues (GGR). Macau confirmed that the first 10 months of 2020 has resulted in an 81.4 percent decline in GGR when compared to the same period in 2019.
Wilfred Wong said he was optimistic that Macau’s gaming market would recover in 2021 and that Sands China will be able to recoup its investment starting next year.
David WalkerAuthor
David is our resident 'down under' contributor, letting us know what is going on in the southern hemisphere, he is also keen blackjack player
