Dr Stanley Ho, the former monopolist in the Macau gaming industry, doesn’t make a habit of bowing to outside opinion regarding his business interests.
Until recently he didn’t have any commercial need to take notice of analysts and commentators. His casino operating company SJM was privately owned.
His son Lawrence may share his father’s DNA but he has of necessity a more public relations-minded approach. Mr Ho junior, co-chairman of Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd (MPEL), admitted on Tuesday “the pressure is on us” to deliver for investors and the public at City of Dreams, the company’s new USD2.1 billion integrated resort on Cotai.
Mr Ho arguably has a more sceptical investment community to deal with than his father, given that MPEL is listed on New York’s Nasdaq and not the generally more Ho-friendly Hang Seng in Hong Kong.
“We know the pressure is on us,” said Mr Ho. “The success of it will have major implications.”
His comments came as MPEL held a preview day for the media on the CoD site. The first phase of the resort is due to open in mid-June, though an exact date has yet to be announced, said Greg Hawkins CoD’s President.
That initial phase features the business heart of the resort: the main gaming floor; the VIP gaming areas; the Hard Rock Casino and its accompanying hotel; the Crown Towers hotel; The Boulevard (a shopping zone); restaurants and The Bubble, a futuristic pod-like structure offering an animated light and sound show called Dragon’s Treasure. The gaming facilities will offer a total of 520 gaming tables and around 1,350 gaming machines, while the phase one hotels will each provide 300 rooms to the product mix.
Lawrence Ho revealed some of the sunny optimism of his father when he added in his remarks on the day of the CoD preview: “The bleakest days of the industry are past us, which was the fourth quarter.” He added however a note of caution regarding the flow of visitors from China: “In terms of China’s political matters, things are definitely out of our hands,” stated Mr Ho.
The Chinese language daily newspaper Ming Pao reported recently that an easing of the travel restrictions may be timed to coincide with China’s Labour Day holiday on 1st May, a time when many citizens take a week off.
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