Macau slowdown gathers pace
MACAU – Further signs of a slowdown in Macau’s gaming sector are emerging.
In a bid to cut costs and avoid large-scale redundancies, Melco Crown Entertainment, which runs the Crown and Taipa Square casinos and hotels, is sending employees on unpaid leave and sabbaticals.
The Macau casino venture is backed by Australian billionaire James Packer and gambling magnate Stanley Ho’s son, Lawrence.
About 2,000 employees will be given as many as three days of unpaid leave each month.
Macau casino operators face falling revenue next year on China’s cooling economy and because of mainland travel caps that have hit visitor numbers.
Las Vegas Sands Corp., controlled by Sheldon Adelson, last month halted development of a $US12 billion project in the city, leading to at least 9,000 job losses.
Melco Crown’s plans ”will enable us to best deal with the current turbulence in market conditions,†Lawrence Ho said in the statement.
“When the market revives, as it most surely will, Melco Crown will be the best poised to benefit.â€
Melco says the move to offer unpaid leave would save the company about 10 percent of its total wage bill.
China restricted travel by its citizens to Macau, the only Chinese city where casinos are legal, to limit growth in high- roller gambling in the former Portuguese colony. Mainland Chinese travellers to Hong Kong can no longer visit Macau using the same visa.
Since October 1, residents of neighboring Guangdong province have only been allowed one visit to the city every three months.
In better news, Melco said its City of Dreams project on the Cotai Strip is on schedule to open in the first half of 2009. The project in Macau will create between 5,000 and 7,000 jobs,
Ian Jarrett
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