Inside Asian Gaming

m,m,n - Currency adjustment a plus for Macau? An article by David McKee in the Las Vegas Business Press argues that the recent upward revaluation of China's currency could work to the advantage of casino operators in Macau. CB Richard Ellis gaming analyst Jacob Oberman is quot­ ed as saying, "If the Chinese currency is more valuable, there might be a higher propensity (to gamble)." Mr. Oberman estimates that 30 percent of gambling in Macau is done in the pataca, 50 percent in Hong Kong dol­ lars and 20 percent in miscellaneous currencies. The Hong Kong dollar trades at 7.77 for each U.S. dollar, with the pa­ taca roughly the same. Institute for the Study of Gambling & Commercial Gam­ ing, at the University of Nevada in Reno director William Eadington, who recently returned from a reconnaissance of Macau, weighs in with, "All the cash on the tables I saw was Hong Kong dollars. When they get into the VIP rooms it's a bit more mysterious, because of the 'dead chip' system." (Private gambling salons in Macau's casinos are operated by subcontractors, who use non-negotiable chips that cannot be played outside those sequestered venues, or "dead chips.") But Mr. Eadington doesn't think the revaluation of the yuan will show up in Macau gambling volume as much as in US interest rates. He foresees upward pressure is in Ma­ cau 's labor and construction costs, which he expects to get worse as casino cunstructiun ramps up High-tech access control for casino construction site Recognition Systems, the biometric component of Inger­ soll-Rand's (IR) Security Technologies, announced that So­ lution Expert Technology of Hong Kong has implemented a biometric-based system using 90 HandReaders that controls access for approximately 12,000 workers to all entrances at a construction site that will ultimately be the Venetian Ma­ cau, the anchor of a Las Vegas-style strip for Asia. "Protecting projects from theft and keeping people from getting hurt on construction sites are always a top concern," explains Tony Yuen, COO of Solution Expert Technology. "In Macau, strict labor and safety laws that prevent illegal workers, and workers without safety training, from enter­ ing construction sites make strict access control even more urgent. General contractors who violate these laws receive heavy penalties when they are caught." The devices enter a worker's permit and safety training records, along with expiration dates, into a database that verifies an employee's identity and authorization in less than one second by taking a three-dimensional reading of the size and shape of a hand. At the Venetian Macau, data is sent wirelessly, using an 802.11 wireless router. 32 Inside Asian Gaming September 2005 Caned in Aceh Four women found guilty of gambling in Indonesia's northernmost province ofAceh were caned m front of thou­ sands of people last month. They are the fust women to be caned since the punishment was implemented in June when 15 men were caned also for gamblmg. Casinos seeking cash Dow Jones reported on the cash-raising quests of Ma­ cau-based casino operators. Galay Casino SA, recently pur­ chased by Hong Kong-listed K Wah Construction Corp, has mandated Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley to help it sell a US$300 million-or-so bond to help finance additions to Galaxy's single casino in the Waldo Hotel. The report also stated: "Venetian Macau - which now shares a license with Galaxy - is reckoned to be in the mar­ ket for US$150 million to US$300 million with Goldman Sachs in charge of the sale." Meanwhile, Hong Kong-listed Meleo is believed to be seeking a US$300 milllion bond issue with Deutsche Bank AG tipped as the most likely candidate to be lead manager. Mind the Singapore skills gap Like Macau, Singapore is set to face difficulties in staffing its two planned Integrated Resorts (IRs), which are expected to create ahout 15,000 jobs. The trouble , according gaming and tourism expert Dr. Chris Roberts from the University of Massachusetts, is that the skills needed in gaming are vastly different from those required by other hospital and tourism businesses. He pointed out that while the ten largest hotels in the world all have casinos, none of the major global hotel chains manage the running of the casinos on their proper­ ties. Both the Hilton and Sheraton ventured into the casino ­ hotel business in the 80s and 90s, but have subsequently pulled out. Dr. Roberts said the winners in the bids for the two lRs in Singapore will need to spend a considerable amount of time tackling the labour issue. SteveWynn took two years to study the labour market in Las Vegas before filling the more than 5 , 000 jobs needed at The Mirage before it opened in 1989. Dr. Roberts feels that Singapore faces an even greater chal­ lenge, since Singapore's existing hospitality programmes put out a mere 500 to 700 new workers each year. Currently, Temasek Polytechnic is the only institute of higher learning in Singapore that offers a course in hospi­ tality and tourism management. Sentosa's strategic projects director Steven Chua conceded that Singapore may not have enough skilled manpower to run the two IRs when they open in 2009. He said that Sentosa, which runs the newly-opened TourismAcademy in partnership with Temasek Polytechnic, will increase the number of training programmes geared to­ wards the two !Rs. The government has also said it will sit down with the ap­ pointed IR operators to ascertain their manpower needs.