Gaming operator Sands China is seeking approval from the Macau government over a plan to build a hotel dedicated to the MICE industry, the company’s president Wilfred Wong Ying Wai said.
In an interview with Chinese language media outlet Macao Daily News, Wong said that the company’s plan for an additional hotel was part of a MOP30 billion (US$3.72 billion) commitment pledged in December last year, with MOP27.8 billion of it going towards non-gaming developments.
The commitment was revealed during a presentation after one of the six gaming giants had their licences made valid for another 10 years.
Wong said then that the gaming company would introduce a new MICE project spanning as much as 18,000 square metres in close proximity to its existing Cotai Expo facility at The Venetian Macao compound, as well as a 50,000-square-metre garden featuring a conservatory.
The hotel structure will sit atop the new MICE project, Wong said.
However, the president of the company emphasised that the construction project was still in its early stages and awaiting a nod of approval from the Macau authorities.
“The MICE demand would be left unmet if there was no additional hotel room,” Wong was quoted as saying. “We hope that the project could connect with the existing MICE venue. We build as much as will be allowed by the government.”
According to Wong, The Londoner Macao complex – made up of five hotels after a US$2 billion facelift – has maintained an occupancy rate of over 90 per cent since travel curbs associated with Covid were removed early this year.
“Our Sands China properties welcomed a total of 1.1 million tourist visits during the recent May Day holiday”, Wong said.
Early this month, he told media that Sands China had experienced a significant improvement in labour shortage around that ‘Golden Week’ period.
