Galaxy Entertainment Group’s Senior Vice President of Public Relations, Buddy Lam, says it is vital for operators to continue investing in Macau to ward off competition for regional tourist dollars from other cities within the Greater Bay Area.
Lam was responding to questions during a panel session at MGS Summit on Wednesday about Galaxy Macau’s Phase 3 and Phase 4 development projects, and specifically why the company was pushing ahead in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to open in 2022, Galaxy Macau Phase 3 will include new gaming and retail space plus the 450 all-suite tower Raffles at Galaxy Macau and the Galaxy International Convention Center with an Andaz Macau hotel.
“We have confidence in Macau’s long-term future development,” Lam told a panel featuring representatives of all six Macau concessionaires. “Last week Macau rolled out its master plan for the tourism industry and it is anticipated that tourism will reach 40 million per year [by 2025], so once the COVID-19 pandemic is under control we will see visitation return to 2019 levels in no time.
“We will be prepared for the recovery but in the meantime we should work on self-improvement within this industry. The development of the Greater Bay Area means there will be competition between cities in the region.
“For example, Guangzhou and Hong Kong have been rolling out a number of large-scale tourism projects during this time, so we need to be prepared to face this competition and use this downtime as it were to improve our position against our competitors.”
Sands China’s Vice President of Corporate Communications & Community Affairs, Sam Chong Nin, agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic had provided the perfect opportunity for his company to complete a US$2 billion transformation of Sands Cotai Central into The Londoner Macao with minimal disruption to visitors.
Likewise, MGM China’s Kenneth Feng said the future of MGM China was “dependent upon investment”.
“But as China further develops we will enjoy prosperity, I have confidence in that,” he said.
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