Macau is fast overtaking its rival Hong Kong as the fastest-growing area for residential hotel and retail property prices.

One of the largest projects is the US$2.1 billion City of Dreams being built by Leighton Asia, China State and John Holland, on behalf of the Melco PBL development company - owned by Lawrence Ho’s Melco gambling company and James Packer’s Crown group.

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The Venetian Macao will be offering several specials over the Mother’s Day period ranging from hotel packages to discounts at select retail stores. To begin with, their tri-generation abalone gala pays tribute to mothers everywhere with an ostentatiously-priced package that may only suit the budget of the very few, and only for May 11. Please tell me more! »

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Last week’s announced slowing of casino development and fixing of commission rates for junket operators was welcomed by the director of Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM), Dr Stanley Ho Hung-sun yesterday as necessary to stop the “cut throat” competition between operators.

“I think it is excellent news for Macau in general. It is high time to take care of the gaming sections problems,” he said. “It is no good with all the six operators always fighting together using cut throat measures of getting customers into their casino, this is not correct because there is enough room for all six of us.”

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Shun Tak, the holding company of Macau gaming and gambling magnate Dr Stanley Ho, said Tuesday that in 2007 it had posted a net profit of US$128 million, which was a rise of 52.7 percent against 2006, a year in which profit totalled US$85 million.

Shun Tak, which has interests in the sea and air transport, hotel and real estate sectors, also said that the number of passengers carried on the Hong Kong-Macau route was 14 million, which was a year-on-year rise of 15 percent.

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Macao registered a record high of 26,992,995 visitor arrivals in 2007, up by 23% over 2006; visitors from Mainland China and Hong Kong accounted for 55% and 30% of the total respectively. Mainland visitors travelled to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme totalled 7,165,203, up by 24%. Visitor arrivals in package tours rose notably by 45% to 4,233,714.

In 2007, the number of Macao residents travelled in package tours dropped by 22% over 2006 to 212,107 and those travelled under individual arrangements using services provided by travel agencies increased by 4% to 386,927.

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The world economy remained strong in the first three quarters of 2007, but the momentum tended to slowdown in the fourth quarter; however, the economy of Macau was not much affected due to the support from Mainland China. Driven by the rapid development of the gaming and tourism sector, investment surged substantially and local consumption remained robust; as a result, the economic growth for 2007 was far higher than 2006.

GDP of Macao for 2007 was estimated at US$19.20 billion, up by 27.3% in real terms and the per-capita GDP amounted to US$ 36,357. GDP for the fourth quarter of 2007 recorded an increase of 22.1% in real terms; meanwhile, the rates for the first and second quarters were revised downward from 25.7% and 31.6% to 25.2% and 30.8% respectively, but that for the third quarter was revised upward from 30.9% to 32.2%; for 2006, the rate of growth maintained at 17.0%.

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Posted in Cotai Strip, Economy, Macau Business, Macau Casino, Macau General, Macau Government, Macau Investment, Macau Tourism No Comments »

In his quest for global gaming domination, Sheldon Adelson discussed his desire to build more multi-billion dollar Cotai Strip like casino destinations around the world, but with one caveat - it has to be on his terms of NO TAXES.
LVS’s argument to a potential hosting country would be that if LVS is risking an investment [...]

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Congratulations to the Crown Macau on its dramatic turnaround.  The six-star hotel casino continues to gain market share, particularily in the high-end VIP segment.  One Wall Street gaming analyst recently wrote:
“Thanks to A-Max’s junkets, Melco PBL’s market share improved substantially from 5.7 per cent in November to 18.1 per cent in February, making Crown Macau [...]

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