Wynn Casino and hotel, Macau

Casino mogul Steve Wynn has said in an interview he couldn’t tell when Macau’s slowdown might let up, but expressed confidence in its long-term fortunes and backed government measures to curb travel to the Chinese gambling city.

The chief executive of Wynn Resorts also said he was in ’sharp disagreement’ with comments by a top executive at rival Las Vegas Sands Corp. suggesting the government’s actions were harming Macau’s casino industry.

Wynn, who has one resort open in Macau and a second on the way, said the government has handled ‘practically everything beautifully.’

‘The fact that the economy and the development and expansion of Macau occurred at such a rapid rate has created a great deal of stress on the community,” Wynn said. ‘The central government and the Macau government putting a crimp in or a slowdown in visitation was an attempt to give the community a chance to absorb the stuff that had been built.’

More on this somewhat contentious view HERE.
Source: AP

Macau's leader, Edmund Ho

Macau has announced measures to ease the public tax burden and boost fiscal spending to kick-start the enclave’s growth, as Chinese travel curbs and the financial crisis cool the gaming haven’s three-year boom.

Macau’s leader Edmund Ho said he would continue to cut taxes on salaries by 25 percent and raise the tax exemption limit by 26% from 95,000 patacas ($11,900) to 120,000 patacas, given the bleak economic outlook.

This and other tax reduction measures would mean reduced taxation revenue of 1.1 billion patacas, he said.

Ho said the Macau government would spend 10.2 billion patacas on public investment in the coming year, while offering more financial assistance
to small and medium-sized enterprises, electricity and rental subsidies,
and soon propose lowering of stamp duties for property purchases
from three to one percent.

‘(Macau will) actively develop the economy and protect people’s livelihood, to collectively tide over the relative difficulties together,’ Ho told Macau legislators.
More HERE.
Source: Forbes

Legendale Hotel

The Legendale Hotel, invested, designed and run by Macau investors, has held its grand opening ceremony, with Mr. Ho Hau Wah, Chief Executive of the Macau SAR, other Chinese leaders, and ambassadors of more than 100 countries.

The Legendale Hotel is invested and founded by The Macau Legend Development Ltd.

David Chow Kam Fai, founder and chairman of Legendale Hotel Beijing, said the Legendale Hotel was the result of support from the national and local governments of China, including Beijing, Macau and Beijing Dongcheng District.

The 5-star Legendale Hotel Beijing has 390 luxury rooms including 81 suites, 79 opulent serviced apartments and 126 private residential apartments. There are also 8 restaurants and bars of different styles. The hotel lobby features a 17-storey atrium.
Source: MarketWatch

Unsmiling gamblers. Gamblers do no smile - ever

Of all the victims of a downturn in Chinese tourism, Macao stands to lose the most.

About 58% of all inbound travelers come from mainland China, where gambling is outlawed. Although the number of mainland tourists to Macao increased by 10.6%  in August, it is a far cry from the 29.9% growth registered in July and the even faster rate of 36.6 % recorded in June.

The slowdown is already affecting casino revenue, which rose more than 50%  in the first six months of this year but was flat in the first half of last month, according to Standard & Poor’s.

Since Stanley Ho’s monopoly on the gaming market was ended in 2002, Macao, which has 30 casinos and has attracted heavy investments from Las Vegas casino operators, is now the world’s biggest gaming market.

Most analysts forecast that the total September figure, which will be released later this month, will fall. If it does, it will be the first monthly drop in casino revenue since November 2005.

The decline is being anticipated after Beijing announced a series of measures to tame explosive growth in the Macao gaming market this year. The Chinese government has in the past few months repeatedly tightened the frequency and ease with which mainland gamblers can travel to Macao.
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Source: The Financial Times

Mainland visitors to Taiwan

The number of sightseeing trips to Taiwan by mainland citizens has been far lower than expected since the two sides of the Taiwan Strait reached an agreement in mid-June on opening Taiwan up to more  tourists, from the mainland.

According to the Workers’ Daily, just over 21,000 tourists from the mainland have visited Taiwan since the agreement, signed by the heads of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation, formally took effect on July 18.

The figure represents only 28% of the maximum number of Chinese tourists allowed to visit Taiwan under the agreement — which the paper said established a quota of 1,000 tourists per day in its initial stages.

In fact, however, the deal allowed up to 3,000 tourists per day,and it was unclear if the newspaper simply made a mistake or was reflecting an official decision by Beijing.
Source: Taiwan News

Typical Hainan seaside scenery. Another day in Paradise.

The Outrigger Enterprises Group will develop and manage the Outrigger Qingshui Bay Resort, Sanya a new 500 plus room, five-star, full service luxury hotel to be built as part of Qingshui Bay Resort. This is a new, multi-billion dollar mixed use development being built on the island of Hainan.

Set in 7.5 miles of prime beachfront property within Hainan Island’s Sanya Administrative Prefecture on the South China Sea, the Qingshui Bay Resort will feature six luxury hotels, a range of residential apartments and villas, championship golf courses and a comprehensive mix of commercial, retail and entertainment offerings.

The Outrigger Qingshui Bay Resort, which should be completed 2013, will be one of six luxurious accommodation choices within the Qingshui Bay Resort.
Source: Asia Travel Tips

The lights of Macau

Sino Express Travel will manage a 160-room hotel in Macau for 10 years. Construction and furnishing installations of the Macau hotel are at the final stages with a target completion by the end of this year.

Macau’s economy is largely based on tourism and casino gambling; the gambling revenues from Macau’s casinos made news in 2006 by surpassing those of Las Vegas strip.

Sino believes the hotel in the vibrant market of Macau will add great value to its growing portfolio of hotels and attractions.

The potential problem is that the Chinese government may not totally agree with Sino Express Travel and Macau.

It has already started slowing down the visas issued and there is a strong change that it may go further if the financial situation worsens. 50% of the gambling money lost in Macau comes from China.
Source: MarketWatch

Map of Fujian

Nearly 300 tourists from the Mainland become the first to visit Taiwan via Kinmen on Fujian Island.

Some 282 Mainland tourists from Fujian province — including 134 tourists from five groups from Xiamen, 96 tourists from three groups from Quanzhou and 52 tourists from two groups from Fuzhou — became the first groups to take advantage of the government’s announcement in early September that people from the Mainland could visit Taiwan via the ‘mini link’ route.

The ‘mini links’ refer to direct sea transportation links between Kinmen and Matsu and several ports in Fujian province that are around 40 kilometers away.

Some 230 travelers took ferries from Xiamen and Quanzhou to Kinmen’s Shuitou wharf, and were scheduled to continue on to Taiwan on separate domestic flights later yesterday and today.
Source: Taiwan News

Tourist in China

The China National Tourism Administration states China’s tourism income reached RMB1,095.7 billion ($160.328 billion) in 2007, up 22.6% year-on-year.

Last year China had 131.87 million inbound tourists. Domestic were 1.6 million and outbound travelers 40.95 million.

International tourism income reached $41.91 billion, up 23.5%. Domestic tourism income reached RMB777.06 billion, up 24.7%.

Tourists from other Asian countries took up 61.5% of all international tourists. The Republic of Korea continued to be the first on the list of nations.

By the end of 2007, the country had 13,583 star hotels, up 6.5%, while the number of travel agencies increased to 18,943 from 17,957 in the previous year.
Source: China View

China tourism

State media has reported that China’s tourism industry is expected to employ 100 million people by 2015. That means that, if it works out that way, one in every 14 Chinese will work in the sector.

The People’s Daily said the government will introduce various policies to help the industry reach the goal, which marks a steep increase from the 60 million currently employed in the industry.

Authorities will adopt measures to facilitate job hunting and subsidise training of new staff, according to a statement posted on the National Tourism Administration’s website.

They also plan to launch a campaign to expand tourism infrastructure in less developed areas.

Labour Minister Tian Chengping said earlier this year that the employment situation in China was ‘very severe,’ as 20 million new jobseekers emerge annually — a situation that will continue for a very long time.
Source: AFP