Local gaming knowhow and the pull of international hotel and luxury brands will give Melco International Development an edge in the increasingly competitive Macau market, according to managing director Lawrence Ho.
Melco plans to rely on Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM) to arrange the gambling junkets that will ensure a steady stream of high rollers at its six-star, $1.45 billion Park Hyatt hotel project.
The firm is also expected to announce partnerships with three international hotel chains to manage some 2,000 rooms at its $8 billion mass-market City of Dreams resort on the Cotai Strip that will feature the world's first underwater casino when it opens in 2008.
Mr Ho, the son of Macau casino magnate and SJM owner Stanley Ho Hung-sun, declined to name the hotel operators, but said talks had reached an advanced stage and were 'very close to finalising'.
The City of Dreams project will be financed in part by the pre-sale of two additional towers featuring timeshare serviced apartments. Melco is also in discussions to attach a luxury brand name to those projects, similar to the arrangement at Australia's Palazzo Versace or the Armani Dubai hotel.
'Asians and Chinese in particular are very brand-conscious,' Mr Ho said. 'We hope to put as many brands in there as possible.'