The opening of Melco Crown Entertainment's City of Dreams resort made a significant contribution to an increase in gross gaming revenue in Macau, it has been claimed.
Lawrence Ho, co-chairman and chief executive officer of Melco, said media reports indicated there was a three per cent year-on-year increase in gross gaming revenue in the Chinese enclave during July.
“City of Dreams has clearly contributed to a return in year-over-year growth in the market, despite continued challenges in the operating environment and with global macro economic headwinds,” he said.
Rolling chip volume at City of Dreams in July stood at approximately US$2.65bn, up 36 per cent on the figure recorded in June. In the mass market segment, the resort generated approximately US$132m of table games drop in July, representing a 33 per cent sequential increase on the drop recorded in June.
For the month, visitation reached approximately 1.1 million at City of Dreams, an average of 37,000 visitors per day.
“Our ongoing marketing efforts have improved awareness of City of Dreams in the region, which has translated into meaningfully improved mass market gaming volumes,” Ho continued. “We remain in the early stages of introducing City of Dreams and expect the property to continue to expand its gaming volumes and profitability as we execute on our various marketing and yield management programmes and our plans to open the approximate 800-room Grand Hyatt Macau by the end of the current quarter.
“The macro environment in Macau is, in our assessment, also likely to materially improve during the coming months.”
