New Resort for Macau

[Gavin]

Before anyone gets excited, it's more of Vegas-style hotel resort, but since there will be a few rides, including a Ferris wheel embedded into the structure, a Batman-themed simulator/dark ride and Wonder Woman themed go carts, I thought it might be worth a topic.

The Golden Eye attraction will form part of the $2.3 billion Studio City project currently under construction on Macau’s Cotai Strip, which is slated to open this summer.

Inspired by Gotham City – the fictional home of Batman – the Art Deco-esque resort is already expected to include 1,600 hotel rooms , 400 gambling tables, a 5,000-capacity sports venue, a Pacha nightclub, a TV studio, and a 300,000ft sq mall. There will also be a DC Comics-branded entertainment centre featuring a virtual reality ride called Batman Dark Flight and a Wonder Woman-themed go-karting track.

Now details of the 130-metre-tall Ferris wheel, which will sit on the side of the resort’s main building, have emerged. Just a shade smaller than the London Eye, which is 135 metres tall, the Golden Eye resembles a figure of eight, and was reportedly inspired by “two asteroids blasting through a Gotham City building”.

To help ensure its success, Studio City is said to have paid Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt $13 million a-piece to star in, and Martin Scorcese a further $13 million to direct, an advertisement masquerading as a short film, called The Audition.

Ed Peters, Telegraph Travel’s Macau expert, describes the city as one of the most intriguing destinations in Asia.

“Since 1999, it has since reinvented itself as the region’s gambling capital,” he said. “Backing up the 30-plus casinos is a veritable marching band of whistles and bells that includes bungee jumping, Broadway-style extravaganzas, multi-starred gourmet dining and drinking, and a per capita GDP of US$91,000, making Macau the fourth richest territory in the world.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/d...nspired-resort-to-get-giant-Ferris-wheel.html

The advert featuring De Niro, DiCaprio and Scorcese is a bit crap, but must've cost a fortune to get them all on board:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2Lhc-PxioU[/youtube]

Some pictures from the hotel's website:

http://studiocity-macau.com/en/index.php#home

It's due to open some time this year. While there's nothing particularly exciting with regards to attractions, I think it's a good sign that these huge hotel/casino resorts are starting to add more in. At the moment, Macau is lacking the buzz of Vegas as it focuses primarily and shopping and gambling rather than more of an all-round entertainment location.

 

[davidm]

Construction;

(from Goddard Group's facebook )

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And some more guff here ; http://www.inparkmagazine.com/melco-cro ... tractions/

"We are also thrilled to announce a collaboration to bring the unrivaled portfolio of some of the most iconic DC Comics’ Super Heroes and Warner Bros.’ classic characters to life, together with Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment. We are excited to introduce Macau to the exhilarating Batman Dark Flight, a virtual-reality ride that will allow fans of the Caped Crusader to soar over Gotham City, and we look forward to unveiling the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment Center, where families and children can play among many of their favorite characters,” said Mr. Ho.

 

[Lofty]

I love the Goddard Group so much. This will truly be stunning when complete.

 

[furie]

That looks absolutely fantastic. I love the design/architecture, it's delicious

Everything else aside, I love the way DC stuff is presented - the styling is always really good and it's great to see this mimic their work.

 

[ECG]

Macao has released its 2014 visitor figures. Overall visitation is up 7.5% with a 14% increase in mainland China guests. However, gaming revenue is down 9% and was already down 2.6% for 2013. More visitors yet less gamblers. Macao has been trying to diversify its tourism appeal by adding more non-gaming attractions. The nearby Chimelong theme park has seen positive reviews, yet less than 20% of its guests have been staying in Macao. Hopefully projects like this will be the boost they need to offset the decline in gambling revenue.

Macau is attracting more visitors, although fewer gamblers are placing their bets in the troubled casino capital.
The city received 31.5 million visitors last year - a 7.5 per cent jump over 2013 - the Macau Government Tourist Office said yesterday. This contrasted with a predicted 9 per cent drop in gaming revenue for this year, on the heels of a 2.6 per cent drop in revenue last year - the first decline since the government began compiling such data in 2002.
The visitor numbers provided a rare positive note after a troubled year for the city as Beijing's crackdown on graft hit the former Portuguese enclave hard and poured cold water on the lucrative VIP gaming market. Beijing has also stepped up attempts to prevent illicit money flows through the casinos as it puts pressure on corrupt mainland officials who route money abroad.
"The gambling business went down in the second half of last year, but tourist numbers continued to increase," said Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, tourist office director.
"The growing momentum of mainland tourists was especially strong. We are thrilled to know tourists don't necessarily come here to gamble."
The number of mainland visitors to the former Portuguese enclave rose 14.1 per cent year-on-year to 21 million last year, which accounted for about two-thirds of the total number of visitors. The growth comes despite the economic slowdown and President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign.
Fernandes said Macau would step up promotion of leisure travel in mainland cities, especially beyond Guangdong. "Many of them still link Macau to gambling," she said.
Arrivals from Hong Kong, Macau's second biggest source of visitors, has dropped for the last three consecutive years and were down 5 per cent to 6.4 million last year from 2013.
Credit rating agency Moody's Investor Service forecast revenues from mainland tourists would continue to moderate as the anti-corruption campaign bites and the mainland economy weakens. Last week, one of the biggest junket operators - which loan cash to high-rollers and set up their visits to casinos - was reported to be closing four of its five VIP gaming rooms.
Last year, international visitor numbers in Macau fell 1.1 per cent. Tourist spending on gambling stayed the same in the first nine months of last year, Fernandes said, but she expected "there could be a drop in the fourth quarter".
There was, however, an increase of about 5 per cent in non-gambling expenditure, including spending on retail and dining.
As part of the non-gambling attractions, four new walking routes with heritage themes have been designed and new lighting shows will be held in various neighbourhoods to attract tourists away from the city centre.
As well, several thousand more hotel rooms will be available this year with more to follow.

Source: http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...&utm_content=20150122&utm_campaign=scmp_today