Grant Bowie
In light of the government’s push for completely smoke-free casinos, MGM China’s Chief Executive Officer, Grant Bowie, told the media yesterday that the gaming operator hopes to “keep smoking rooms within the casino space, whether VIP or mass market.”
Mr Bowie stressed that the company supports protecting the interests of its staff but also representing the interests of its customers. “From a gaming operator’s perspective, I think we are all consistent with the message that we think the retention of the smoking lounges is a very good compromise,” he said.
“I think whenever you want, to take change needs to be handled carefully and appropriately. (…) We clearly support the initiative of the government in terms of protecting the interest of the staff, and therefore have supported the banning of smoking on the gaming floor, but we would also suggest that we should allow people to smoke in smoking lounges,” Mr Bowie suggested.
Commenting on the year-long drop in gaming revenue, the CEO said it’s still too early to say when the industry will get back to its previous level of performance. “I think what everyone is now looking for is when the low revenue is stabilized, when we start to see growth. Clearly we’ve now gone for 12 months with declining revenues, but we are also recognizing that there are still only early signs that the economic conditions in the region would suggest that we will return to growth,” he said.
Mr Bowie also stated that MGM understands the need to transform itself in order to become stronger for the future. “I think what’s happening is we are recognizing, we are transforming away from just gaming into all of the other non-gaming activities. We also understand that the China market itself, the economy is slowed, and we cannot be separated from that, so we need to understand we need to broaden our base, not relying exclusively on China,” he said, adding that he’s confident the city will overcome the “transformation.”
As to how the company can diversify its customer base, Mr Bowie recognized that “the whole world now knows about Macau, and we are starting to see more interest from destinations further away from Macau.” “MGM is focused on developing the arts and culture sector, and I think now it’s starting to see success,” he added.
MGM gears up for dragon boat races
MGM Macau held a blessing ceremony yesterday for its Golden Lion team that’s set to participate in this year’s annual Macau International Dragon Boat Races to be held from June 13. The company’s executives followed local folk traditions by carrying out a blessing ceremony at the Nam Van Lake Nautical Centre, wishing good luck to its team of 57 members, who are from the company’s different departments and have all undergone intensive training over the past 12 months.
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