Sheldon Adelson’s Parisian Casino In Macau Will Open Only In 2016

Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp is the parent company for The Parisian which is Sands China’s new luxury resort in Macau. Sands initially planned to have a partial launch of The Parisian in November 2014 and a full launch in March 2015. However, the Sands did not go ahead with the scheduled plan and recently confirmed that The Parisian will open its doors for business only towards the end of 2016.

This delay could end up being a blessing in disguise for the Sands Corp as Macau casinos experienced a huge market slump in 2014 and reportedly lost together a combined revenue exceeding $100 billion. Gambling analysts predict that Macau’s gambling industry will continue to struggle in 2015 and casinos will find it hard to increase to make any significant profits.

The Sands Corp and Wynn Resorts lost huge amounts of money due to the slump of Macau’s casino industry and as a result the Sands is not too keen to rush things in Macau. The Sands Corp experienced a 16.3% decline during the 4th quarter of 2014 and as a result has changed its focus from high-stakes gaming to mass and non-gaming activities.

The Parisian luxury resort is being constructed in Macau at an estimated cost of $2.7 billion and will feature a replica of the Eiffel Tower that will be half of the original size. The Sands Parisian will double its retail offerings in order to diversify and comply with the wishes of Macau and Beijing who want to change Macau’s image from being the biggest gambling hub in the world.

Adelson took up CEO responsibilities for the Sands China subsidiary after former CEO Edward Tracy announced his retirement effective 6th March 2015. Adelson made a statement about the new features of the Parisian resort including its 15,000 square foot arena. In a statement, Adelson said

Let’s compare our arena, a 15000 square ft arena. One week we could have a martial arts exhibition, the next week we could have Celine Dion, the next week we could have a basketball game, the next week we could have a cultural event or a ballet

Speaking about the launch, Adelson went on to say

It’ll be sometime in 2016. We’re going to make every effort to get it done as quickly as possible but we don’t have an exact date yet.