Inside Asian Gaming

9 vention and exhibition space, dwarfing that of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center (0.7m sq. ft), or the Asia World Expo (0.75m sq. ft) at the Hong Kong airport. Added to this, convention fees in Macau are estimated at a 10-20% discount to those in Hong Kong. As of May 2007, the Venetian convention center had signed contracts with more than 20 tradeshow organizers over a cross section of business lines, to produce 44 events over the next two years. Added to this, Venetian has also signed contracts for 20 corporate meetings to be held within the first four months of opening. According to manage- ment, many of the region’s most important corporate meeting planners are also on board to help book corporate meetings at the Venetian. We believe a good convention pipe- line, coupled with existent gaming and entertainment facilities, will help extend visitor stay in the enclave and lift hotel occupancy, particularly during the mid- week period. Interestingly, according to a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Tour- ism Board in 2006, overseas convention attendees on average spent HK$9,400 per trip in Hong Kong, or 2x the average tour- ist spend of HK$4,700. If this trend is rep- licated in Macau, it would serve to drive up per capita visitor expenditure levels above the average of HK$1,600 in 2006. The survey also reveals that convention attendees typically stayed longer in Hong Kong at 4.7 nights vs. the average visitor stay of 3.7 nights. Entertainment A series of large-scale sporting events featuring world-class athletes will be hosted at the Venetian over the next three months. The events, whilst being centered on the launch of the enclave’s first integrated desti- nation resort, are aimed at promoting Macau as a prime location for sports and entertain- ment events in the region. In late July, Venetian sponsored the Ve- netian Macau Cup, an exhibition football match pitting English premier league gi- Source: Hong Kong Tourism Board Source: Hong Kong Tourism Board Average visitor spend in Hong Kong (HK$ per trip - 2006 survey) Average length of stay in Hong Kong (no. of nights - 2006 survey) Source: Deutsche Bank; Macau government Monthly gaming revenue (yoy change) ant Manchester United against the Chinese Super League’s Shenzhen Football Club. In October, the resort will play host to the NBA China Games with two NBA teams, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic, facing off against each other and the China national team. The matches are to be held at the 15,000-seat arena. In November tennis greats Pete Sampras and Roger Federer will play each other in an exhibition match at the events center. The match is expected to sell over 10,000 tickets. The 1,800 seat Venetian Theatre will open early next year featuring an original produc- tion from Cirque du Soleil. These top-quality sporting and entertain- ment events, coupled with the retail, gaming and leisure facilities at Venetian, should at- tract a larger proportion of overnight visitors to Macau to experience the new gamut of at- tractions. This should serve to lengthen visi- tor stay above the current 1.5-day average. Opening effects Macau has thus far replicated the Las Vegas experience of “supply creates de- mand”, and we expect this theme to re- peat itself following the Venetian open- ing. Year-to-date, Macau gaming growth has already exceeded expectations, and we have raised our full-year 2007 gam- ing revenue growth forecast from 20% to 49%. By the end of the year, MGM Grand is also expected to open its doors. The Sands effect (2Q 2004) When Las Vegas Sands opened the first foreign operated casino in Macau, Sands, in May 2004, gaming revenue jumped 56% year-on-year in 2Q04 while visitation soared