CASINO NEWS: ASIAN FOCUSED CASINO TO OPEN ON THE VEGAS STRIP AND HIGHLIGHTS FROM G2E ASIA
LUCKY DRAGON HOTEL TO OPEN IN LAS VEGAS LATER THIS YEAR
The Lucky Dragon, located on the north Strip, aims to position itself as Las Vegas’ first casino resort to deliver an authentic Asian lifestyle experience.
“As the first ground-up casino development in Las Vegas in six years, the opening of Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino will mean more options for Las Vegas visitors and locals alike,” Lucky Dragon COO David Jacoby said. “We are filling a niche in Las Vegas, and we’re thrilled to bring such a carefully curated array of Asian-focused gaming options, restaurants and amenities to Las Vegas.”
It aims to be a community gathering spot for Asian visitors, locals and anyone looking for the best Pan-Asian food and excitement in town.
The resort will feature details such as signage in Chinese first and English second and the property’s staff will be multilingual. The resort’s 27,500 square-foot casino will focus on tables games popular in Asia, such as baccarat, pai gow, sic bo and fan-tan, with only a few “Western-style” tables such as Blackjack. The gaming floor will be centred on a pagoda-shaped bar with a 1.25-ton glass dragon sculpture suspended from the ceiling. In addition to a high-limit gaming area, to be called the Emerald Room, Lucky Dragon will also feature ultra-luxurious VIP gaming on the second level.
All aspects of the hotel and casino’s design have been influenced by the rich traditions of Asian culture. Designed by architects Ed Vance & Associates, the project is located close to the north end of the Las Vegas Strip at 300 W. Sahara Ave. Lee Cagley Design designed the interior with consultation on cultural authenticity by Feng Shui master Lin Huang at Qi Gallery.
For more information, visit www.lveirc.com/project/lucky-dragon
G2E ASIA ROUND-UP:
CHINESE CUSTOMERS “OVERWHELMINGLY” WANT GAMING
Diversification of the Macau tourism market is challenging because Chinese customers at the city’s large casino resorts “overwhelmingly” want gaming products, a senior industry executive told a panel session at the three-day casino industry trade exhibition and conference Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2016, held in Macau last week
“The Chinese-oriented consumer has been demanding gaming product – overwhelmingly,” said Andy Choy, chief gaming officer for Melco International Development Ltd. The firm is an investor in Macau casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd, operator of City of Dreams, Altira and Studio City properties in Macau.
He was speaking at the conference session of G2E Asia, ‘Regional Market Trends and Dynamics – Impacts of Locals, Junkets as Developers and Developing Entertainment’.
Currently, most of Macau’s visitors come from mainland China. In 2015, a total of 66.5 percent of Macau’s 30.7 million visitors were from mainland China, according to Macau government data. Visitors from Hong Kong made up a further 21.3 percent of the total.
Under the Macau government’s proposed Five-Year Development Plan – a recently-announced package of social and economic policies covering the period 2016 to 2020 – the authorities want to see non-gaming revenue at the city’s casino resorts rise as a proportion of all revenue.
By 2020, the Macau government wishes to see such non-gaming revenue account on average for at least 9 percent of all revenue generated by casino operators, compared to an estimated 6.6 percent in 2014.
“In an environment where you are motivated purely by satisfying your customers, that would dictate that you would spend your investment dollars primarily on the gaming product,” stated Mr Choy.
“But in this jurisdiction [Macau] and in many jurisdictions in the area, the government has deemed that they would like to see more non-gaming attractions and amenities as a prerequisite for the granting of the licences. And so as an operator you comply with that,” he added.
READ MORE HERE >> http://www.ggrasia.com/chinese-overwhelmingly-want-gaming-g2e-asia-panel-2/
EXPERTS SAY ASIAN GAMING INDUSTRY IS UNDER-SERVED.
The number of casinos in Asia-Pacific will increase to around 230 in the next five to seven years, but it is not enough, said industry expert. “Casinos in this region is far underweight,” said Andy Choy, Melco International Development’s chief gaming officer during the G2E conference last week.
“To put this into perspective – United States has 350 million people, 48 states and 1,400 casinos,” said Choy. “Asia, on the other hand, four billion people, with [currently] less than 200 casinos where gaming takes place.”
However, Choy said whilst dollars spent on casinos per capita in the United States is far more than Asia, looking at gaming revenue in Macau, it is obvious there is a high demand for gaming in Asia-Pacific.
