It’s all about ‘premium’ mass market, as Melco CEO Lawrence Ho gets ready to unveil new hotel Morpheus
Company to ditch junket operators, a staple of Macau’s casino industry, as importance of high rollers wanes
For Macau gaming mogul Lawrence Ho, the chief executive and chairman of Melco Resorts, winning is all about grabbing the “premium” mass market – instead of relying on the high rollers. The segment comprises big spenders that are not focused solely on gambling.
This idea was reinforced when the 42-year-old said he was not going to use junket operators for his new hotel, Morpheus, a move that has surprised many industry insiders.
“We have always been either the least, or the second least, reliant on junkets,” Ho said during an interview with the South China Morning Post in Macau. “Some of our competitors are just very happy to solely rely on junket operators. But what sets us apart is, by not doing so, we can build our own customer database and build direct relationships with customers,” he said.
Andrew Lo, the executive director of Suncity, which controls about half of Macau’s junket business was, however, not convinced by Ho’s idea of not having any junket operators.
“I don’t think Macau’s casinos could survive without junkets,” he said. “My monthly active accounts can amount to 8,000 [customers], which means there is that large a number of marketing people working for me [to get VIP clients] every month. How many marketing people can one casino operator get?” Lo said on the sidelines of the Global Gaming Expo Asia 2018 in Macau.