Entertainment Capital of Asia

‘The Entertainment Capital of the World’ was an advertising slogan first developed for Los Angeles during the Golden Age of Hollywood but soon after, Las Vegas took the title. Famously, the MGM Grand in Las Vegas was the first casino to bill the slogan on their property. With famous acts performing nightly, Las Vegas had the glitz and glamour with performers from showgirls to the Rat Pack gracing the stages nightly. Now, Las Vegas is an epicentre of live entertainment. Giants like Cirque du Soleil, Celine Dion, Elton John, and Blue Group dominate the present day stage and more innovative and exciting shows are added yearly. Tourists travel from all parts of the globe to be entertained by the performances in Las Vegas. In recent years, Macau has been called the Entertainment Capital of Asia but I think that we may not have enough live entertainment to hold the title for long. The House of Dancing Water has been a powerhouse show for Melco Crown for many years and Studio City has brought a new vision of entertainment to Macau. Casinos like The Venetian and Galaxy are working to change the image of Macau’s gaming culture but with our declining casino revenue, will adding more shows appeal to the casinos? I’m concerned that if more live shows or at least a few resident entertainers are not added to the Macau marquee, we may lose our grip on our entertainment title. The other question that I ponder is tourist patronage for live entertainment. In present day Las Vegas, it is not uncommon for tourists to come to the city to indulge in entertainment and not participate in gaming at all. Can Macau offer the same experience and hope to alter the instincts of tourists visiting our city? If the average Macau tourist has gaming on their mind, can we entice them to watch a show for an hour or two? Currently, Studio City is dominating search engines with their meta tag line ‘Asia’s Entertainment Capital’ maximising their new brand message to the world. The promise of new casinos like Wynn Palace and The Parisian also make me hopeful that more forms of entertainment and live shows are on the horizon. Macau seems to be fighting to keep its hold on entertainment in Asia and I look forward to watching our city’s future unfold live and hopefully on stage.