Las Vegas Sands plans to open the Londoner Macau in January, ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday.
In a statement first reported by GGRAsia on Tuesday, Sands China, the subsidiary of Las Vegas said it was accepting room reservations for phase one of the property starting on Jan. 22. The project, a transformation of Sands Cotai Central into the London-themed resort, is part of the company’s current $2.2 billion investment into Macau.
The company said an “official ceremony” for the Londoner would be held in “early February 2021.” Chinese New Year, the largest holiday in Asia, starts on Feb. 12.
“The Londoner Macau will offer our guests another new and exciting experience while further illustrating our commitment to Macau and the expansion of its tourism offerings,” Las Vegas Sands President Rob Goldstein said in a statement.
The opening would mark a major event for Macau, which has suffered through the coronavirus pandemic for much of 2020. Considered the world’s largest gaming destination in terms of revenue, the coronavirus outbreak halted Chinese New Year celebrations in January and closed casinos for 15 days in February.
COVID-19 caused travel disruptions to and from Macau through Mainland China and Hong Kong for much of the year. Gaming revenue saw six straight months of 90% gaming declines that ended in October.
For the first 11 months of 2020, Macau’s gaming revenue is down 80.5% to $6.58 billion. In all of 2019, Macau casinos produced $36.6 billion in gaming revenues.
In October, Las Vegas Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson was upbeat about the company’s prospects in Macau, a region that pre-pandemic, accounted for more than 60% of the casino operator’s quarterly revenues.
“I remain steadfast in my belief that Macau has the potential to become one of the greatest business and leisure tourism destinations in the world,” Adelson said.
He added that the company’s quarterly operating results in Macau “are not representative of our current business trajectory, as the resumption of visa issuance across all provinces in China only commenced towards the end of September. The initial stages of recovery since then have been very encouraging.”
Goldstein told analysts Macau is rebounding slower than had been anticipated. Still, he expects the Chinese gaming market to recover faster than Las Vegas.
Sands China President Wilfred Wong Ying Wai said in a statement the company has had a “successful track record of creating themed properties in Macau.” The company operates Venetian Macau and the Paris-themed Parisian Macau, along with the flagship Sands Macau.
According to its website, the Londoner Macau has multiple hotel brands – The Londoner Hotel with 594 suites, the 363-unit Londoner apartment-hotel, the 400-room St. Regis Macau, the 654-room Conrad Macau, and the 4,000-room Sheraton Grand Macau Hotel.
Three British-themed food outlets at the revamped resort – The Mews; Churchill’s Table and Gordon Ramsay Pub & Grill – are still classified as “coming soon” according to the website.
Las Vegas Sands is one of three U.S. casino operators in Macau, along with Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts International. In addition to the gaming revenue decline, there is uncertainty surrounding Macau’s gaming license concessions, which expire in June 2022. The government has yet to release its plans for a renewal process.
A week ago, Macquarie Securities gaming analyst Edward Engel, who is based in Hong Kong, said Macau officials are focused on the pandemic and economic recovery, increasing odds that current gaming licenses will be extended beyond 2022.
“If policymakers are averse to a messy and drawn-out ownership battle, then gaming licenses will need to be renewed at generally favorable terms,” Engel said. “In fact, regulators’ intentions to re-tender licenses in just six months gives us more conviction that policymakers intend to maintain the status quo.”
Shares of Las Vegas Sands closed at $57.87 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, $1.34 or 2.37%.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
