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Saturday, September 23, 2006
In Macau: A Wynne-Win situation  For a long time I believed that Macau was to Vegas as Hainan Island is to Hawaii: Chinese knock-offs that should be bartered for in the Great Wallmart.... OK, my attitude has not changed much, but the opening this month of the Wynn Casino in Macau is a move toward the westernizing of offerings on the island. The grandeur of the place makes the Macau Sands, in comparison, look like an off-track betting parlor. The casino/hotel is wonderfully opulent. For someone with my pocketbook it will provide many hours of window shopping as I cannot afford a $30.00 ball cap. OK, OK, I was once taken suddenly drunk and bought a pair of Golden Nugget boxers (don't ask) in lieu of getting a tattoo of the phone numbers I am aways forgetting. But, I digress... A real pic' from a shop in Macau. It may be more factual than creative (thanks Sophie):  Besides that persistent whooshing sound (that is the invisible vacuum sucking all of the money out of your pockets) it is gorgeous place. Most of the staff actually speaks English and Wynn has gone to a a lot of trouble to make you feel at home--if your home is in Beverly Hills. Meanwhile back at the Sands, the other major money sucker on the Macau "strip", it appears that the new competition may be a little stiff for them: I wandered by on a Friday night and even the most popular buffet in town had no waiting line. The "entertainment" was in full gear though: several badly done dye-job blonde dancers from the former Soviet Union and a line-up of overweight Filipinas singing decade old songs played their hearts out to the "crowd" of ten or so onlookers who were not gambling. To be fair: there was one woman from the Philippines who was a glorious vocal and physical mixture of Celine Dion, Tina Turner, and (pre-cocaine) Whitney Houston. I wish there had been a bigger audience as this lady could be a headliner anywhere. And at a distinctly Chinese Greek Mythology (It ain't Ceaser's palace with steroidal men showing off shaved chests) MY entertainment was watching the management trying to figure out how to solve a computer glitch in a machine-run baccarat pit. Losers were accidentally paid and winners were dunned on one hand. It took no less than an hour for no less than 16 casino workers to figure out how to rectify the problem. While the brainiacs in charge argued publicly the wait staff handed out hot water to anyone who wanted it. Now, a Vegas hotel would have forgiven the losers, paid the winners, comp'd everyone a buffet and moved on as there was only about 400 US Dollars at stake. The hour spent probably cost them a lot more in lost gaming revenue, salaries and ill will (there was much Cantonese shouting) than just paying up. I told you: this ain't Vegas. I did not poke around much at the Wynn, but saw, true to Macau casino form, no entertainment at alll. But, I may still have been in shock from noticing that the gaming tables nearest the entrance had a 3,000 Hong Kong Dollar minimum bet limit. That is 4X the monthly income of a mainland Chinese worker or 1/3 of the minimum monthly wage at the Wynn. Since 90% of the people there were Chinese, so I am assuming they all own a portion of our trade deficit or someone in their family is not going to college anytime during this life. With four more casinos due to open in the next few months, one of them the Sands Venetian, I am wondering if there will be enough traffic or money to sustain them. Macau has the most gaming tables in the world now. Who is going to fill the seats in the new gaming houses? And if the answer is mainland Chinese then I am sure amenities will continue to be meager as who wants to pay a month's salary for Cirque Du Soliel when there is Baccarat? The Sands paid off an enormous mortgage within a year of opening. Let's see how much they Wynn (sorry) with some stiff competition. It worked for Wynn in Vegas... --Lonnie Hodge --Lonnie Hodge Blogger News Network is advertiser-supported, and your visits to our advertisers help BNN to meet its expenses. Help keep us afloat! posted by Lonnie at 11:59 PM |
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2 Comments:
I was there at the new Wynn last Saturday night and was nothing less than stunned at the patronage.
All tables were full and they were lining up at the door.
The arcades which boast an impressive international line up of brands such as Bvlgari, Gucci, LV to name but a few were also busy with actual paying (not just window shopping) customers. And yes, they were all Chinese.
With a population of 1.3 billion who love to gamble and a very high savings rate compared to someone complaining about their trade deficit (hmm, who might that be, the same country trying to get the Chinese to revalue their currency - US perhaps???!)
The new casinos will be sustained with the customers they expect, all with their wallets full of savings. To say that a weeks wages needs to be spent on some tables is subjective. More and more provinces are being opened up for international travellers now and those provinces are far enough away to fill those hotel rooms everyone is worried won't be filled.
On top of that, give it 3 years and Macau will be the MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) centre of Asia. Build and they will come!
Wynn is no doubt a great hotel and casino; it will surely benefit Macau as a whole especially all those employee working at him. However, the question is how long he can maintain his vision toward the future of Macau. Maybe at the long run he will concentrate on self-interest the way the first foreign casino does. Can he maintain his hotel? His hotel is not the way Chinese expected. We may agree his hotel is the best, but can a gambler spend a minimum $3000 just for one night. His casino as we see is in the right place but his hotel maybe a little far as we expected. We are not underestimating the Chinese people but if we are talking for the majority. His hotel will surely gone in the Wynn but in fairness to Wynn he can be the wind beneath the glamour of Macau just do not change your vision.
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