Archive for February, 2008

At Long Last The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge to Go Ahead

The governments of Hong Kong, Guangdong, and Macau yesterday endorsed the financing scheme for bridges linking the three places and the massive project will soon proceed to public tenders. Macau's casino magnate Dr Stanley Ho has said that he is interested in bidding for the project. It is expected a number of state- owned enterprises will

MGM Grand Macau Running Below Expectations

MGM Grand Macau as Terri Lanni mentioned, during the investors conference call, has had promising initial results. We have received very positive feedback from various parties. The property is absolutely beautiful. It takes time to build the business overall in Macau, in meeting our initial expectations. The high-end business is considerably stronger than we expected,

CotaiJet Ordered Four More Macau Ferries

Austal has signed a contract for four additional 47.5 metre passenger catamarans with Cotai WaterJets (Macao) Ltd, adding to the initial ten-vessel contract signed in 2006 by sister company Venetian Marketing Services Limited (VMSL). [youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=c3c0SnEdm-M[/youtube] CotaiJets Maiden Voyage by aomen.tv The new vessels will be identical to those currently under construction at Austal’s Henderson shipyard and will be

Macau Government Gaming Taxes Revenue Up by 30.9%

The local government logged 3.962 billion patacas (US$495 million) in total revenue last month, up 37 percent year-on-year, the government said. The latest statistics released by the government showed that a major share of the total revenue for January this year came from direct gaming taxes, which saw an increase of 30.9 percent year-on-year to 3.09

Macau Visitor Arrivals for January 2008 Up by 16.3%

Despite blistery and snowy weather conditions, Macau still managed to increase visitor arrivals to 2,371,754 in January 2008, a year-on-year increase of 16.3%. Visitors from Mainland China (1,421,782) and Southeast Asia (109,738) grew by 23.0% and 58.2% respectively, while those from Hong Kong (581,860) decreased by 3.7%. Same-day visitors accounted for 52.3% of the total

Macau Dealers to Combat Drug and Gambling Abuse

The major casino workers' union launched a campaign yesterday to combat rising drug use and gambling amongst its members. Faced with a growing number of dealers earning a relatively high wage but with restricted social opportunities due to shift work, the Macau Gaming Industry Labourers Association will this year offer â€œhealthyâ€ activities for its 3,000Â members. The

William Hill in Talks With Macau Casino's

Despite the illegal bookies milking more than US$750 million a year, the rumoured opening-up of the sports-betting market next year is being taken seriously by one of the largest bookmakers in the United Kingdom who is currently in talks with local casinos. Macau's sole sports betting concession is held by Sociedade de Lotarias e Apostas Mutuas

Biggest Known Value for Macau Gaming Chip Worth So Far US$12,853

Well we just found out that the two casino employees who allegedly stole a HK$100,000 (US$12,853,-) gaming chip, set a record for the highest value gaming chip so far, and then cashed it in and shared the money, were arrested by the Judiciary Police (PJ) on Tuesday. The two 24-year-old suspects worked in different casinos and

Macau Casinos Taking Away Housing for Citizens

A panel of experts presented historical portraits of urban Macau to shop how available land had been almost totally used for new casinos instead of housing citizens. The Asian Real Estate conference session on the impact of gaming on property in Macau did not sketch a rosy picture for the future of housing in the

Macau Jackpot Winner Loses Court Case

Macau's current gaming laws should be amended in a bid to strengthen the gambling regulations of relatives of casino employees, said lawmaker Angela Leong On Kei, on Tuesday. Leong made the remark when asked during the Legislative Assembly's Spring Lunch, to address a recent jackpot row in the Venetian Macao casino resort, in which a local