GGRAsia – MGM Cotai ‘grand opening’ Feb 13: promoter

MGM Cotai ‘grand opening’ Feb 13: promoter

Jan 09, 2018 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Macau-based casino operator MGM China Holdings Ltd is to host an “official grand opening ceremony” for its MGM Cotai resort (pictured) on February 13, the firm said.

Its release on the topic did not clarify why the ceremony would be later than the January 29 opening to the public announced in September by MGM China. The January 29 launch for the HKD27-billion (US$3.46-billion) property is subject to it receiving all necessary government approvals.

The firm said in a press release issued on Friday: “On February 13, in anticipation of Chinese New Year, we will host the official grand opening ceremony and gala dinner to be officiated by our government officials and celebrated with our community and partners from all over the world who served an integral role in helping us successfully develop and bring this spectacular resort to the market.”

Chinese New Year – the Year of the Dog – falls on Friday, February 16. The Macau casino market typically sees a spike in gambling in the Chinese New Year holiday period.

GGRAsia approached MGM China seeking information on what MGM Cotai facilities would be available to the public on January 29. We also asked the company whether any property facilities would start operations on February 13 – the ‘grand opening’.

No reply to those questions had been received by the time this story went online.

MGM Cotai will be MGM China’s second Macau casino property. The firm currently operates MGM Macau, in the city’s traditional downtown casino district.

The opening of MGM Cotai is to take place roughly two years later than initially announced. In its 2013 results filed in February 2014, MGM China referred explicitly to being “on track for an early 2016 opening” of the property.

“MGM Cotai has been uniquely and meticulously designed for this market and demonstrates our commitment to supporting Macau’s continued evolution into a global destination for tourism and leisure,” MGM China’s chief executive, Grant Bowie, said in a statement included in the firm’s Friday release.

In comments to reporters on November 14, on the sidelines of the MGS Entertainment Show 2017 – a casino industry trade exhibition and conference held in Macau – Pansy Ho Chiu King, co-chairperson of MGM China, declined to reveal the number of new-to-market gaming tables the firm would apply for with the city’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, for MGM Cotai. According to MGM China, the Cotai property has capacity for up to 500 tables.