Studio City opening October 27

The US$3.2 billion Studio City will open on 27 October, Co-chairman and CEO of Melco Crown Entertainment, Lawrence Ho, announced yesterday. During the ceremony the son of Stanley Ho also said that he hopes that the new integrated resort can be a catalyst for the gaming market. “The opening of Studio City shares a lot of similarities with the opening of City of Dreams, which opened during the 2009 financial crisis. We hope Studio City will be the catalyst to take the market out of the current situation”, Lawrence Ho said. “Studio City is very special. Macau has never seen something like it. It has significant attractions and we are hopeful that these attractions will increase the number of visitors”. In terms of gaming areas, Melco Crown is expecting a licence to install 400 gaming tables in the property. Lawrence Ho explained that Studio City is a new stand-alone project, as opposed to Galaxy Phase II, which he considered an expansion, and as such he is hoping to get that number. In March, Galaxy secured a licence to install only 150 tables in their new properties. “Of course we were concerned about the table allocation that they got. We’re still hopeful that the government will reward us for our contribution to Macau over the past 10 years”, he said. “Our competitor is not really in the same league as us because their project is more of an expansion, while this is a stand-alone resort. We certainly hope to get more than our competitor and to get the 400 gaming tables”, he stressed. “Unlike some of our competitors who had ridiculous requests for gaming tables, like 1,000, 700 or 500, we have always been consistent for the last four years asking for 400 gaming tables. But we are in the government’s hands”, he said. “Depending on the table allocation we have a very flexible layout in our gaming floor setup and so we can adjust”. Asia’s Entertainment Capital Studio City is a Hollywood inspired casino-resort that will add another 1,600 rooms to Macau. In addition to the gaming areas, it will offer attractions such as the ‘Golden Reel’, the world’s highest figure-8 Ferris wheel, a Batman-themed 4D flight simulation, and 5,000 multi-seat entertainment centre, among other attractions. The project is said by the company to be the launch of Macau as Asia’s Entertainment Capital and was designed to attract the Chinese middle-class. “Studio City was always built to take advantage of its location, which is next to the Lotus Bridge border, and to focus on mass and have a big visitor traffic. The Mainland will always be the biggest market for Macau”, he commented before explaining that it will be difficult for the territory to attract a significant number of tourists from very distant locations. During the ceremony, the President of Studio City, Jay Dee Clayton, announced that the sales of rooms started online last Monday.