The five-star Ponte 16 casino resort opened on Friday, bringing
the total number of casinos in Macao to 29, which also saw local
gaming magnate Stanley Ho rally its strength to fight the
flooding-in Las Vegas gaming companies for market share.
The integrated resort was jointly developed by SJM (Sociedade de
Jogos de Macao) S.A., owned by local gaming magnate Stanley Ho, and
Macao Success Limited. It features 105 gaming tables and 300 slot
machines, and a hotel run by the French luxury hotel chain Sofitel.
The resort currently opens its mass gaming floor and will open four
to five VIP gaming rooms in March and retail space in the near
future.
Situated in the island city's old Inner harbor, which is
surrounded by a number of local UNESCO Heritage sites, Ponte 16
drew its architectural design inspiration from the city's early
20th century traditional buildings. "The Inner Harbor is..full of
the collective memories of society. SJM, through the development of
the Ponte 16, aims to continue the historical and cultural mission
of the Inner Harbor," said Ambrose So, director of SJM, at a press
conference before the resort's opening ceremony.
Before the opening of Ponte 16, SJM owns 18 of Macao's 28
casinos, with a top gaming market share of 31 percent, 12
percentage points ahead of second-ranked Las Vegas Sand.
So said that due to the ever increasing local labor and
construction costs, the total investment of the project amounted to
3 billion patacas (375 million U.S. dollars). But "we are confident
that we will have a very good return of our investment, we hope to
get our money back within 3 to 4 years time."
Macao casinos saw their gaming revenue surge to 83 billion
patacas (10.4 billion U.S. dollars) last year, up 46.6 percent
compared with 2006, according to the latest statistics released by
the government's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
Addressing the intensifying gaming market competition, he said
if casino profits increase at the same rate with market growth,
"then everybody will be able to enjoy the pie."
To diversify its customer source, Ponte 16 also eyes "the
quality Japanese customers" as it was planning to introduce
Pachinko (a popular Japanese gaming device used for amusement and
prizes and is related to pinball machines) into its gaming floor,
said Hoffman Ma, executive director of Macao Success Ltd.
(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2008)
