Film and TV studios are main attractions at US$2b project The new-look Macau - with its high rises, billion-dollar casinos, booming tourism market and restaurant scene - was the result of a sustained and extreme makeover. Last year, Macau attracted an estimated 25million visitors, and investors have bet on the city's appeal to continue growing. But many believed that gaming was not the only answer. Co-chief executive of the US$2billion Macao Studio City development, Ambrose Cheung, said diversification was the key to long-term success and growth. He said you only had to look at Las Vegas to see that gaming was not the only ingredient needed to ensure success. 'The potential in Macau is enormous,' he said. 'The gaming sector is growing fast and non-gaming revenue will also increase substantially. And that too is where a great deal of potential lies.' Situated next to The Venetian on the Cotai Strip, Macao Studio City is scheduled to open in 2009 as a resort complete with theatre, television and film production studios. It will include a Playboy Mansion, retail outlets, hotels and casinos. It is estimated that up to eight movies will be filmed at the site each year. Visitors will be able to watch movies being made, participate in reality and game shows produced on site, and rub shoulders with celebrities at movie premieres and other red carpet events. 'Macao Studio City is banking on this celebrity appeal and the region's continued growth. It is a sexy, hip and cool project,' Mr Cheung said. 'Here you will get to feel like a star, shop like a star, arrive and leave like a star and dine like a star.' He said one of the major constraints to Macau's sustained economic development was competition from other regions, but 'we are counting on that because there is a need for variety instead of just gaming'. There is no doubt such a specialist project will need dedicated staff, and Mr Cheung said he saw a need for a different approach to attract the right people. He said due to so many large projects coming online in Macau, it was increasingly difficult to find qualified staff. In an effort to solve this problem, Macao Studio City will offer its own training courses run through education institutions in Macau, Hong Kong and the mainland. The programmes will be developed and administered by universities, but will only be available to Macao Studio City employees. Courses will be offered in a range of disciplines from human resources to gaming, retail, marketing, sales and entertainment. Mr Cheung said the training programmes were in the planning stage, and the idea was to have staff complete as many as possible. 'There will be numerous programmes with some overlapping each other,' he said. 'We need to give the Macau youngsters a choice. They do not all have to be dealers, we want multiskilled employees.' The development is expected to employ about 9,000 staff, with at least 3,000 positions in the hotels and more than 1,000 retail staff. Piling and preparation work is under way at the site and it is expected there will be more than 2,000 construction workers. Mr Cheung said some high-level management positions would have to be filled by expatriates, but the bulk of staff would be from Macau, Hong Kong and the mainland. He said the fact that Macao Studio City would not be open until 2009 placed it at an advantage when it came to human resources, especially for construction labour. 'Many of the other projects will be completed at that time and there should be staff around. We will be entering a maturing market, and the talent pool that's running out now should be better in two years.' Macao Studio City is recruiting corporate staff, with jobs available in hotels, retail, sales, marketing, project management, engineering, architecture and human resources. 'When it comes to human resources you really have to plan,' Mr Cheung said. 'Our training programmes will be continuous. Some will be three months, and others may be nine.' Most technical film production staff will have to be sourced internationally, as there are few skilled people in Macau. Mr Cheung said Macau already had several well established annual entertainment events, but the biggest problem was lack of facilities. 'We will be very different from the other developments,' he said. 'We will be injecting movies, television, concerts, red carpet events all blended into onstage theatres, arenas, retail, hotels and casinos.' Into the spotlight A US$2billion project resort incorporating television and film production facilities with retail and gaming Plans to employ more than 9,000 staff, with at least 3,000 positions in the hotels and more than 1,000 on the retail side Resort will establish its own staff training courses run through universities in Macau, Hong Kong and the mainland Up to eight movies will be filmed on site each year Will produce reality and game shows