Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | June 2010 12 W hat are the prospects for Cotai 2.0, following on from Galaxy Macau and LVS’ Cotai five and six? Steve Wynn said in April when he visited Macau for the opening of Encore at Wynn Macau, that construction on aWynn Cotai project could begin as early as next year, for a possible opening before the end of 2013. development of Parcel 3 on Cotai, next to The Venetian Macao, on condition the site was finished by April 2013. That looks distinctly ambitious, given the time it took to organise recommencement in Cotai Five and Six. The company added in its filing, however, that it might be possible to get a further extension on the deadline, but added: “If we are unable to meet the April 2013 deadline and that deadline is not extended, we could loseour landconcession for Parcel 3, which would prohibit us from operating any facilities developed under the land concession. As a result, we could forfeit all or a substantial portion of our US$35.6 million in capitalised costs, as of March 31, 2010, related to our development on Parcel 3.” Cotai for Petrolheads Getting there involves a road trip Critical Mass Cotai in the next five years with the arrival of a light rail system; Macau’s first ever railway. And within six years, Cotai is expected to have other links feeding from mainland China. The first phase of the light rail system, including four stations serving Cotai, is likely to cost US$1 billion. In October last year, the government said the first stage could be open by 2014, though the scheme has been put back several times already. A further US$11 billion is being spent on a 31- mile long bridge across the Pearl River Delta to link Macau to neighbouring Zhuhai in mainland China and onward to Hong Kong. That could be ready by 2016, but it is likely to be reserved for freight and commercial vehicles such as buses, because of the lack of space for parking private cars in Macau. China’s ongoing railway modernisation programme has already halved the rail journey time between Beijing and Shanghai and is expected to do something similar for journey times from these major cities into the mainland cities next door to Macau. Provisional route for Macau’s light rail system Cover Story T he ferries serving Cotai directly are getting fuller by the month, but passengers still require a transfer by road to the actual doors of the casino properties. There’s none of the convenience of the monorail serving the Las Vegas Strip. That’s due to change—possibly within four years