Wilfred Wong explains Londoner rebrand

The rebranding of Sands Cotai Central (SCC) into the “Londoner” was the topic of yesterday’s British Business Association of Macao (BBAM) event, held at the St Regis Hotel.

The president and chief operating officer (COO) of Sands China Limited, Wilfred Wong, was invited to speak about the USD1.1 billion (MOP8.9b) rebranding project. He explained that the choice of London as a topic was influenced by two main factors: the vision of the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Las Vegas Sands Corporation, Sheldon Adelson, and the people’s demand. Wong noted that while choosing the ‘theme’ city for the project, the company conducted many surveys both online and in-person with visitors, as well as consulting many stakeholders, such as travel agencies and other tourism professionals.

Without unveiling many details of the project itself, Wong said: “It has to be authentic. Although it is a copy, it has to feel like [an] original,” noting that was the process used in both the Venetian and the Parisian, the other two theme-based developments by the company.

“It’s all design by scale, in some cases at a larger scale,” he said, noting also that this imitation needs to be brought to a higher level of realism in terms of the interior, exterior, staff wardrobe and also in the entertainment. Citing the example of The Parisian, Wong said, “In the process of creating The Parisian we also brought to Macau several brands that didn’t exist here before.” He noted that this sort of work, in addition to other works needs to be done with The Londoner so that it can benefit from the experience gathered over the years at the other two developments.

Wong also stated that the idea of theme-based integrated resorts is not yet exhausted and that people must remember “many of our clients haven’t experienced Europe yet.” As such, these sorts of integrated resorts have a significant appeal.

The president of Sands China also noted that studies and statistics show that “before travelling, and when choosing the hotel where they are going to stay and places they are going to visit, tourists will chose ‘iconic venues’ that are easier to remember,” outlining another advantage to the proposed transformation. He reiterated this by stating , “We need to make people feel that they are almost there [in London].”

Picking up once more on the statistics, Wong noted that from the top three most visited landmarks of Macau, “St Pauls ruins comes first and then Venetian comes second and Parisian (although being a new resort) comes third.” Furthermore “from the 33 million tourists that visited Macau last year, our properties received 60 plus million visitors, [which] means that generally speaking, each tourist visited at least two of our properties. The Venetian alone registered over 30 million visitors.”

Wong hinted that The Londoner could include elements such as “the London eye,” “Big Ben” or the “Tower Bridge,” adding, “don’t be surprised if you are greeted by the beefeaters [Yeomen Warders], because we want people to feel that they are there.” In addition to its offerings, The Londoner is also creating “a lot of job opportunities for streetmosphere people,” he said.

As for the biggest challenges, the president of Sands China said, “it’s a real challenge for the local staff here having to coordinate all the work schedules in a very different type of job.” He noted, “we were used to building from the ground up but now we must deal with ‘living buildings,” and as such, changes will be experienced “bit by bit.”

Wong also said that the project would have to follow the main pillars, which means that “the hotel must be a London hotel, the theatre must be a London Theatre, the shopping mall needs to be like the streets of London.” He said these points need to be addressed not only by the design team but also the marketing and sales teams.

During the upcoming two years, after which the company hopes to have the project ready to open, they will “modernize the shopping arcade and give it [a] façade that gives you an immediate recognition of London, and we will convert the Holiday Inn into The Londoner Hotel.” Part of the current St Regis will be transformed in the Londoner Apartments (of 2 and 3 bedrooms), dedicated to high-end customers. Wong noted that this would be the “opening of a new aspect of Macau tourism,” referring to the tourism of families, who in many of the cases, he said, come with the “three generations together.”

Wong said that one can frequently see grandparents, parents and children, in which often the older generation is in charge of the younger one while the middle one goes to casino.

The development will progress in different stages, with a clear development schedule being outlined in the “next couple of months”, gaining shape “month by month” until its completion.

The London theme will also be extended to the casino and gaming facilities as well as to other entertainment venues that might include a “James Bond themed Casino” and a “Harry Potter themed entertainment [attraction].”

Investment in The Londoner a sign of trust in concession renewal

The investment of around MOP8.9 billion by Sands China Ltd to rebrand the Sands Cotai Central into new development The Londoner is “a vote of confidence on out future and our commitment to Macau in the longer term,”, Wilfred Wong said.

Questioned on the risks of such large investment in the project, which is expected to open in 2020, only two years before the expiration date of the concession, Wong replied, saying “Life is full of risks,” but that he “thinks the fact that we are committed to a USD1.1 billion investment just shows how confident we are in the future not just of ourselves but of Macau as well.”

Wong elaborated by saying “I think what we as concessionaires and operators have to do is to show our commitment, show our sincerity and hopefully all these will count on the government’s retendering exercise and we make sure that the government understands what we are doing.”