Entertainment and casino developer Melco Crown Entertainment has announced that Studio City, the group’s newest development on Macau’s Cotai Strip, will open October 27, 2015.
The US$3.2 billion integrated resort will offer a Hollywood-inspired addition to a host of resorts being developed in the region and will feature “entertainment-fuelled leisure offerings” such as a Batman-themed ride, the world’s highest figure 8 Ferris Wheel, and a 5,000-seat entertainment centre.
Studio City will have 1,600 hotel rooms across the resort's two towers and will be home to Melco Crown's fourth casino. Following the announcement, Co-Chairman and CEO of Melco Crown Entertainment Lawrence Ho stressed that Studio Cty is, however, proof of the group's commitment to Macau's transition from a gaming to mass-market hub.
“We’ve been gearing up for this date, and a lot of effort has been put into ensuring that Studio City is the best possible, world-class integrated resort. Over the past ten years, Melco Crown has supported the Macau government’s diversification drive to become a world-class tourism destination, and our development of City of Dreams is a perfect illustration of that," said Ho.
He added that the resort’s location, next to the Lotus Bridge immigration point, which connects with Hengqin Island, will hand it a stream of “mass market business” from the Mainland, as will the planned Macau Light Rapid Transit station next door.
Asked how Studio City would attract groups from international markets, Ho replied: “China will always be our largest market, and we are seeing more and more other Asian countries coming, but I think the truth of the matter is, that to expect bookings from the US and Europe, which are very far away, is not realistic. But I think there are a lot of synergies across the regional market – we opened City of Dreams in Manila recently – but I think that there is nothing like Studio City, certainly not in Macau.”
Other developments being rolled out on the Strip include Galaxy Phase II, which opened May this year; The St Regis Macao (due to open December 1, 2015); Wynn Palace (due to open March 25, 2016) and Sands China' The Parisian, which is also slated to open later in 2016.
For more on Studio City and Macau's new resorts, see here.
