Richard Branson is the second new player to come to the table this month in a bid to secure a spot in Macau’s lucrative casino industry, after Star Cruises and Stanley Ho announced their tie-up to open a casino on the Macau peninsula in mid-January.
Branson plans to open Macau’s most expensive casino resort yet, a US$3 billion, 2.1 million sq. ft. casino and entertainment complex with three hotels on the Cotai Strip, next door to the Venetian Macao Resort. He aims to open his new resort by 2010 in partnership with Tabcorp Holdings, the world's sixth largest casino operator and owner of the Sydney Star City casino.
This will be Branson’s first foray into the casino industry, although not his first attempt at entering the Macau market with Virgin Blue several years ago. Virgin Blue did not take off, evidence that the casino industry is proving to be a much easier way to enter the Macau market than the airline sector.
“We have done a lot of market research but ultimately it is about gut-feeling and mine is that a Virgin casino in Macao will be a success,” Branson told the Financial Times.
He also told FT that his casino will be more for family with more greenery, swimming pools and facilities for people of all ages.
The Virgin Atlantic Hong Kong office, which welcomes its new Country Manager, Joe Thompson today from India, said it could not comment on Richard Branson’s Macau move just yet.
