Nightclub operators optimistic over market growth

The region’s growing nightlife and entertainment scene has attracted renowned artists to perform in the city’s high-end clubs, a talent-­booking agency claimed.

According to a report by South China Morning Post, local operators and entrepreneurs are increasingly marketing the MSAR as Asia’s entertainment capital, even though most mainland tourists visit Macau to gamble.
Paco Chan, director of Pomo & Stone – a Hong Kong-based entertainment and talent booking agency that works for Cubic – revealed that there are efforts to make Macau known as the “party capital of Asia.”
Chan said Macau can offer more space to club than Hong Kong, remarking that their region cannot book renowned DJs like Macau.
Chan has booked numerous international artists to perform in Macau, such as American artists Chris Brown and Jason Derulo, as well as DJs Tiësto and Steve Aoki. However, he claims that it was not easy to convince them.
“A long time ago when I reached out to different artists and their managers they would say ‘Macau? Where’s Macau?’ They’d never heard of it before,” Chan said to SCMP. “The first artist I booked for Macau took six months of convincing before they eventually came.”
When Studio City nightclub Pacha Macau opened in October, its owners hoped the franchise would forge a new path for the city’s nightclub industry.
Eddi Dean, managing director of Pacha Macau, remains confident of the club’s future in the region, stressing that they have already witnessed “some really amazing high-energy nights here in Macau.”
“Hopefully, more international clubs will come to Macau. That will help build the identity of Macau as much more than just a place to come and gamble,” he said.
Macau has attracted a number of famous stars including Flo Rida, PSY, DJ Fatboy Slim, Ne-Yo, deadmau5 and Paris Hilton, among others.
In a recent Times interview with Allan Zeman, known as the “Father of Lan Kwai Fong”, Zeman remarked that the MSAR needs to change its bar and clubbing culture lest it attract the “wrong element.”
“Clubbing today is much more sophisticated. It’s not just a DJ and loud music. Today the millennials want a much more relaxed atmosphere, a place where they can talk and enjoy themselves,” he said.