With Edward Tracy retiring and Rob Goldstein only undertaking the presidency of Sands China on an interim basis, Sheldon Adelson has named himself CEO of Sands 
China in addition to Las Vegas Sands. This is viewed as a positive move, centralizing the chain of command that connects Las Vegas, Macao and Singapore. “Business strategy has always been decided by Mr. Adelson all this while, so in terms of strategy, I wouldn’t expect any change,” offered BNP Paribas analyst Goh Shengyong.
Between them, Macao and Singapore represent 88% of Sands’ revenue and Adelson assumes the reins in China at a time of crisis, as casino revenues continue to slide. The government’s anti-graft campaign hasn’t gone away as Adelson predicted it would, and high rollers continue to keep a low profile. With its mass-market orientation, Sands China can say it’s insulated but it’d be kidding itself.
* Casino crisis or not, the Brookings Institution and JPMorgan Chase ranked Macao #1 in the world for economic performance. Chinese cities generally dominated the top 300, with Macao growing gross domestic product by 8% and employment 4%. Last year’s 31.5 million visitors represented a 7.5% increase from 2013.
Another mass-market operator, Galaxy Entertainment, is poised to capitalize on any growth in tourism. It’s preparing to pour $7.4 billion into a recreation of Manhattan‘s 
Theater District. This comes on top of the announcement of a Batman-themed virtual reality ride. The faux Broadway would center upon a 3,000 showroom. This would be set off by a staggering 120 restaurants and bars. (Customers won’t be able to complain of a lack of choice.) Galaxy CEO Lui Che Woo said the move was in response to popular demand. “What we’ll do is make it more diverse, from entertainment, leisure, culture and art, we will continue to expand,” he added.
Galaxy Macau already has 200 retail outlets, so we can presume they’re doing well for Lui to double down in this fashion. It’s also in keeping with Chinese President Xi Jinping‘s call for economic diversity in the Pearl River delta. When Xi speaks, casino owners listen: James Packer and Lawrence Ho are adding family oriented amenities to Studio City. High-roller-oriented Wynn Macau and MGM Grand Paradise have been not so quick to jump the bandwagon.
