Gaming tables ‘sufficient’ for current market, says Galaxy senior executive

The 150 new-to-market gaming tables granted to Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) are sufficient in meeting current market needs, said Galaxy Macau’s Director of Operations, Richard Longhurst, at a Q&A session held yesterday.
Macau welcomes the first of a new wave of casino-resorts emerging in the Cotai Strip, as Galaxy Macau phase 2 and Broadway Macau open today.
“I can certainly say that our additional tables will be sufficient for the current market. We are quite comfortable with what we have been receiving,” he stressed.
The group stated in January that it has the capacity to add as many as 500 new gambling tables to its second phase. GEG has been granted 150 new-to-­market tables for its property expansion, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong, recently confirmed.
Mr Longhurst recalled that the industry has seen a shift from the VIP to the mass-market– a trend which is expected to grow in the near future.
“The market has certainly changed from a VIP focus to a mass market focus, and the vast majority of new gaming tables will be focused on our mass market, which is really where the future of Macau lies,” he reiterated.
Galaxy’s senior executive added that, “the long term projection for this particular property and for Macau really is now tourism for the mass market.”
The group has invested HKD43 billion of a planned HKD100 billion commitment to Macau in its 1.1-million-square-­resort.
Galaxy Macau now features six hotels providing 4,000 rooms, suites, and villas, as well as two spas.
Luxury hotels the Ritz-Carlton (comprising of over 254 suites), JW Marriott (comprising of over 1,015 rooms) and Broadway Hotel (comprising of 320 rooms) have now been added to the existing Banyan Tree Macau, Hotel Okura Macau and Galaxy Macau.
Mr Longhurst assured the public that Galaxy is very confident of its new developments. He acknowledged that the market has changed over the past year, and it is for this reason that the group has improved its efforts to provide additional non-gaming amenities.
“We think the market has changed over the past 12 months. The majority of our development has gone into the non-gaming parts of our business (…) the diversity of our offering is quite significant,” he recalled.
Asked about how many gaming tables currently allocated to the group’s properties will be transferred to the new casino, Mr Longhurst only revealed that, “we will allocate tables based on where we think the growth opportunities are.”
He stressed that over 75 percent of new gaming products will be allocated to mass-gaming facilities as Galaxy expands into phase 2.
“You will see a migration from phase 1 to phase 2 but we take a look at the total of our property. With respect to all the tables allocated to GEG we distribute those tables where we think the best opportunity will be for us within the company,” he reiterated.
Galaxy’s director of International Premium & Mass Market Development, Raymond Yap, revealed that the group is initially hoping to attract 70,000 visitors as it expands into phase 2. “We are very optimistic about our business,” he added.
Galaxy’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kevin Clayton, acknowledged that the typical customer has evolved over the years and therefore the market needs to expand beyond gaming within properties. “We now get far more discerning customers coming from South East Asia, North Asia and China. They’re looking for a wider selection of experiences, broader forms of entertainment, not just gaming,” he recalled.
Broadway Macau, he said, has been designed and developed taking into account this particular type of customer. “Whether you’re a billionaire or whether you’ve got a thousand bucks, we now accommodate everybody within this integrated resort,” he added.
Macau’s gaming revenue continued to decline for the 11th straight month in April. Mr Clayton acknowledged that the Las Vegas of the East has had to confront the headwinds, but “it’s still the largest gaming and entertainment market anywhere in the world.”
“We have sufficient assets that will give us a good return to our shareholders. That’s the key point here. We will deliver a good return for our shareholders and we will continue to do that going into the future. We have a very strong position, financially, as a company,” he reiterated.
Galaxy Macau phase 2 and Broadway Macau officially open this afternoon. The Cotai Strip will see several expansion plans from other casino operators unfolding over the next two years too.

A call for families and mice business

Galaxy Macau is hoping to attract more families as the group expands into its second phase of development.  As part of this, it will provide additional non-gaming amenities, namely a 200-store shopping complex, a 3,000 seat theatre, and a variety of new restaurants and bars, which will join the Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott and Broadway hotels. According to the vice-president of operations for JW Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton hotels Rauf Malik, Galaxy is now trying “to attract more families to spend their holidays here, shopping and enjoying the cuisine and retail experience.” Furthermore, he recalled that Galaxy now offers different brands complementing each other, which he believes will also attract the MICE business.