Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | January 2012 10 added: “Wynn Macau attracts a large volume of premium mass market clients who are predominantly walk-in, day-trip visitors to Macau from China. Wynn Macau offers a variety of different promotions designed to attract and retain the growing premium mass market players. Our premium mass-market clients generally do not take advantage of the luxury amenities provided by Wynn Macau to the same degree as VIP clients, but Wynn Macau does have a variety of premium mass- market amenities and loyalty programs, including the Diamond Club, which offers a reserved space on the regular gaming floor and various other services unavailable to general mass-market clients.” glitzy CUBIC nightclub. It is still early days for Galaxy Macau, however, and GEG could well pip Melco Crown in the mass-market revenue share rankings. As IAG reported in its interview with GEG President and COO Michael Mecca in last month’s issue, among the efforts to boost mass-market revenue at Galaxy Macau is the placement of a clearly demarcated high limit area in the centre of the main gaming floor, in addition to the operation of GEG’s Galaxy Privilege Club loyalty programme. Efforts are also underway to increase the proportion of revenue derived from the mass market—and especially premium mass—at MGM Macau. In an interview with Reuters last year, MGM China Holdings CEO Grant Bowie stated: “I would like our mix to be 50/50 (VIP/premium mass). I think this is on the two- to five-year horizon.” Meanwhile, Wynn Macau has long acknowledged the importance of the premium mass segment to its business, and higher-spending mass players are naturally drawn to the luxuriously-appointed property. In 2009, Wynn Macau opened several new areas with higher denomination tables “specifically designed to appeal to premium mass market clients who desire a higher degree of privacy and some basic amenities such as complimentary snacks and beverages,” stated the company. It Cover Story Tapping into the premium pool— ‘House of DancingWater’ Clear positioning—Galaxy Macau’s high-limit area According to Union Gaming Research Macau’s shuttle bus survey, City of Dreams has a mere 4.0% share of mass market visitor numbers, compared to Galaxy Macau’s 10.5%. The vast majority of Melco Crown’s mass revenues are earned at CoD (with the operator’s only other property, Altira, dominated by VIP baccarat) and those of GEG at Galaxy Macau (with its other property, StarWorld, also dominated by VIP baccarat). This suggest the mass visitors at CoD gamble much more per head than those at Galaxy Macau, since the mass market/slot revenue share of CoD’s operator, Melco Crown, was 12% in the third quarter of 2011, while it was 10% at Galaxy Entertainment Group. Part of the reason for that could be the recently- opened Galaxy Macau attracts a lot more casual visitors, who are not interested in gambling at all. Another reason could be that Melco Crown has indeed succeeded— as it frequently claims to have done—in drawing a greater proportion of premium players within its mass visitor numbers through such attractions as the US$250 million ‘House of Dancing Water’ show and Oozing opulence—Wynn Macau