Sands China targets Japan in campaign to rebrand Macau

The Sands China Tokyo roadshow and banquet dinner were held yesterday at the Conrad Tokyo hotel, where around 120 Japanese travel agents and corporate individuals were treated to a variety of performances and promotional activities.
The roadshow is the fourth of its kind in a series of 11 planned by Sands China, each with the intention of driving Japanese tourists and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) activities to the concessionaire’s integrated resorts. It is part of a wider move toward non-gaming offerings undertaken by gaming resorts in Macau in response to the government’s plan to diversify into other economic areas.
“At Sands China we support the government’s vision of Macau as a ‘World Center for Tourism and Leisure’,” said Sands China vice president for destination marketing and sales, Ruth Boston. “This summer we will offer a variety of entertainment shows for all ages.”
Many guests at last night’s event expressed an interest in Macau – considering the “diversity of offerings” – however just as many raised alarm bells over the suitability of the territory for their respective needs.
Atsuhiko Kiyonari of Japanese travel agency, Tobu Top Tours, told the Times that they “do a lot of business with MICE organizers who are always looking for facilities that can host more than 1,000 people. Macau is an ideal destination in this sense. Also it is quite easy to get to, being just four hours from Tokyo, so I am comfortable promoting the city to my customers.”
However, Yuko Tokada, an event coordinator for retail company Modere Japan, feels differently about the territory. “I last visited Macau in 2007 but I was not impressed. It was a bit of a disappointment actually,” she told the Times. “I was staying in Hong Kong at the time and came to Macau for about three days. I remember thinking: I should have stayed in Hong Kong.”
Tokada is responsible for planning company incentive vacations for around 50-100 people that occur annually outside of Japan. Historically these trips have taken place in destinations across Southeast Asia, such as Thailand and Vietnam. However, since the company’s rebranding, high-performing employees are now sent to more far-flung locations, like Paris and New York City.
Tokada said that she would reassess whether Macau deserves another visit primarily on the success of the banquet dinner and showcased offerings.
James Koh, a corporate executive at Amway Japan, told the Times that he is a meeting and events planner in the city who organizes large-scale events that can exceed 3,000 guests. He is also involved in designing international incentive trips for top-performing distributors that work with Amway.
“For low-level achievers, we normally plan a trip that is [geographically] close to Japan,” he said. According to Koh, Honolulu on the Pacific U.S. state of Hawaii has proven exceptionally popular with his clients, because of its reputation in Japan. The executive hinted that Macau might not generate quite as much excitement in comparison.
“The location [of Macau] is great for entertainment and shopping, but it lacks the regular activities [of other destinations],” said Koh. “You need experiences to offer. Seventy percent of our clients on these trips are repeat travellers; that means they are likely to have been on last year’s trip. So you need to keep offering them new things.”
“For us, it is about motivation versus satisfaction,” he said. The destination must appeal to the distributors in order to incentivize them but must also succeed in rewarding expectations.
The problem with Macau, Koh says, “is that the image of Macau in Japan is all about Chinese gambling. Some don’t want to go [there] because of that negative image.”
However, the performances and offerings showcased during the banquet dinner may have given James Koh the materials necessary for a rethink.
Aside from presenting gaming theme park, “Planet J”, “The Blue Man Group” and “Shrek the Musical” all on offer at Sands China resorts, last night’s dinner also featured live performances from the group’s entertainers, showing that there is more to the resorts than just slot machines.
A French opera singer-cum-chef, Italian branch manager, and Venetian gondola singer constituted a musical trio with renditions of classics such as “That’s Amore” and “Nessun Dorma” to the delight of the Japanese guests, some of whom waved their napkins in the air to the final piece at the musicians’ encouragement.
Other acts featured an unconventional painter who created a “Mona Lisa”-style image within minutes and sparkled golden dust onto a glue-painted black canvas, and a quick-change duo who adorned dozens of glittering costumes between them.
Japan represents a significant market for the gaming operator, which ranks the country among its top five target areas according to Ruth Boston. Currently Japan trails behind mainland China, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan in terms of visitor arrivals, but Sands China representatives believe that there is significant untapped growth in the market.
Three years ago James Koh organized a trip to the MSAR, encompassing thousands of guests who were hosted at The Venetian Macao. He said that the reaction from his distributors was positive but he is unsure whether his repeat clients would get much more from the city.
“Generally people loved it. They enjoyed it because the hotel was nice. People had a lot to do [on that trip] in terms of having a busy schedule… so nobody was complaining. The problem now is: what next?”
“We looked into the Parisian a few years ago but there was a delay in the project’s construction. We had to [abort] our plans because we need to plan three or four years in advance,” added Koh.
The Times asked event coordinator Yuko Tokada whether she might return to Macau to reassess the city’s suitability, nearly a decade on from her visit in 2007. “Maybe things have changed,” she said. “Next year our destination [for the employee incentive vacation] is decided, but the following year is a possibility.”
Kazuto Churei of Forever Living Products Japan was somewhat more enthusiastic than the other guests. After the show finished he told reporters that it was an experience like no other. “I have never seen such impressive promotional videos!” he exclaimed. “Maybe they are [reflective of] Macau!”

No mention of Parisian gaming tables

During last night’s banquet ceremony, a promotional video was shown to guests outlining the new Parisian development, which is expected to open to the public later this year. The clip panned around a rendered interior of the soon-to-be latest resort on Cotai Strip, highlighting a host of amenities, but made no mention of gaming services.
Accompanied by stereotypical French tunes played mostly on the accordion, the video revealed the rooms, facilities and services of the resort as well some of the luxurious public areas. Moreover, guests were shown a rendering of what will eventually be a restaurant situated in the lower tier level of the Eiffel Tower replica outside the resort.
However, there was no mention of any gaming facilities even though Sands China has most recently said in February that it is hoping for at least 250 new tables in the resort, down from the 450 signalled by the concessionaire in 2014. The omission might be seen as part of a larger intention to emphasize the group’s non-gaming offerings.

The writer is in Tokyo at the invitation of Sands China Ltd.