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The star of many a thousand picture so far: Visitors take photos in front of the scale replica Eiffel Tower at The Parisian Photo: Reuters
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Parisian’s opening delivers instant returns for Sands China

Family friendly resort also becomes must-see photo-taking hot spots for many visitors to Macau

Celine Ge
Celine Ge
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Sands China, the Macau casino operater controlled by Las Vegas mogul Sheldon Adelson, has posted better-than-expected third quarter results, as its newly opened resort “The Parisian” casino and its signature Eiffel Tower replica became the darling of tourists and recreational gamblers alike.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, a key gauge on profitability, jumped 15.2 per cent to US$628.4 million from a year earlier, while total net revenue jumped 3.9 per cent to US$1.71 billion for the three month ended September 30.

The figures sparked a number of ratings upgrades by research houses.

Parisian Macau is the company’s fifth property in Macau and the fourth on the popular Cotai Peninsula area.

There was considerable hype leading up the opening of the family friendly resort, which welcomed the first visitors in early September to its entertainment facilities, all of which are designed to be reminiscent of the French capital’s streets.

“The Venetian”, another of its properties in the Cotai Strip which is equally targeting mass market paying visitors, rather than just gamblers, also gave a boost to Sands China’s bottom line, as its net revenue climbed 10.5 per cent to US$771.09 million for the third quarter.
Interior of The Parisian in Macau. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Adelson said during a conference call with analysts that the stellar performance of both resorts was down to their overall “mass market” appeal, while some analysts added they have also become must-see photo-taking hot spots for many visitors to Macau.

“The completion of the bridge between Four Seasons [another deluxe casino-hotel property in Cotai Strip operated by Sands China] and The Parisian in late November will further increase the synergies in traffic and patronage between our properties,” said Adelson.

Morningstar analyst Chelsey Tam said: “The Parisian delivered solid results, thanks to the group’s centralised marketing efforts to drive existing customers to try its products and increase awareness of the property among the public.”

The Parisian has a frequent shuttle bus to other major Macau Cotai properties such as City of Dreams, Studio City and Galaxy Macau, while visitors can also get there easily from the ferry terminals, the airport and across the landmark Lotus Bridge via public transportation, added Tam.

Rival Wynn Macau, which opened its new high-profile Wynn Palace in August, revealed recently it has suffered access problems to the site that have dented guest traffic to the luxury resort, which is enclosed by either barricades or construction blockades of one kind or another, said officials.

According to Lamplight Analytics, a Hong Kong-based social media analytics company, The Parisian was the fifth most popular casino resort among social media users even before it opened in September, while Wynn Palace came second to Studio City in generating buzz, findings in September showed.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Parisian delivers instant returns for Sands China
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