Galaxy Entertainment Group’s Phase 3 Galaxy Macau development is now headed for a late 2020 launch – delayed from mid-next year – with the new 1,500-room hotel pushed back to 2021, the company revealed on Tuesday.
Providing a progress report during a media event in Hong Kong to announce the company’s 2Q19 earnings results, Galaxy placed a late 2020 or early 2021 opening date on its 400,000-square foot MICE facility and 16,000-seat arena.
The company is “building as much as the government allows,”said Galaxy CFO Robert Drake, indicating that the pace of construction is limited by official procedures and permissions.
Galaxy Macau Phase 3 will also include additional F&B and retail outlets, with Deputy Chairman Francis Lui stating the company continues to adapt to the government’s diversification policy.
“The mid-market is what the government wants,” he said.
Phase 4 remains on track to open in 2022, Lui added, with piling work now complete and the company completing final preparations for construction.
Asked about a recent directive from Macau’s gaming watchdog, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, banning VIP operators from conducting any of its cross-border activities on local soil, Lui said Galaxy “understands the government policy” and welcomed the change.
As to Galaxy’s own VIP policies given that group-wide VIP turnover declined by almost 38% in 2Q19, Lui said, “We will not compete in offering rebates to VIP, because it would be a vicious circle. We will compete in service.”
