Adelson makes MBS the right place at the right time

“Ain’t no mountain high enough”, sang Diana Ross as she graced the opening celebration of the Marina Bay Sands on June 23 – and for the team behind this Integrated Resort, it must have felt like they had climbed several mountains to get to the opening.

But finally, the resort described as a “game changer” by the Chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp, Mr Sheldon Adelson, is officially open for business.

“I’ve been on top of the world for the past week,” Mr Adelson told P@SSPORT, the day after the opening party which was attended by more than 2,500 guests and 1,100 members of the media. Ceremonies included a competition to climb the three towers, a black tie dinner party, a concert starring Ms Ross as well as Kelly Rowland of Destiny’s Child, and more.

He told the local media that Marina Bay Sands would “forever change” Singapore’s image, give the country’s tourism industry a major fillip and projected that it would attract between 125,000 and 150,000 people a day – which, if achieved, would be a record for LVS properties worldwide.

“It’s going to change Singapore by providing entertainment amenities that were not here before. This will be for the Asian people a very major attraction and will change the perception of what Singapore has in the night time.”

Up to June 23, Mr Thomas Arasi, Chief Executive Officer of Marina Bay Sands, told the local media the resort had already drawn 500,000 visitors for the month and Chief Operating Officer Mr Mike Leven forecast annual revenues of about US$1 billion, which would allow the company to recoup its US$5.6 billion investment in just four to five years.

The man who is not shy of large-scale investments – he has invested another US$7 billion in Macau – believes that the conditions are right in Singapore for Marina Bay Sands to be a success.

“I am not going to spend billions of dollars on a project if I didn’t believe the conditions were right. I have been in business 64 years, I have created over 50 businesses,” he said.

And more than being in the right place at the right time, Mr Adelson believes “you make it the right place at the right time”.

“Being at the right place at the right time is not a guarantee of success. You have to recognise it is the right place at the right time – and nobody tells you that, you have to know.

“I don’t believe in luck for a business viewpoint. I make my time and place by creating a situation.”

And the situation he’s created with Marina Bay Sands is an “entertainment product for grown-up people”.

So Marina Bay Sands has got everything in one spot – shops, hotel rooms, meeting facilities – the biggest ballroom in South-east Asia, theatres and event plazas, celebrity restaurants, and of course, the casino which attracts about 25,000 visitors daily, a third of them Singaporeans and permanent residents, according to local media reports.

At 15,000 sqm, the casino is only two percent of the space of the Integrated Resort but will provide up to 70% of revenues, said Mr Adelson. “We couldn’t build an IR without this. It is evolving though – in Las Vegas, the casino is only 30% of the contribution.”

But the Asian appetite for gaming is voracious – something he recognises – and at the opening press conference, he said that even having the equivalent of five Las Vegases with 140,000 hotel rooms each in five different Asian locations would not satisfy demand.

Asia accounted for about 73% of LVS revenue at the end of the last year, said Mr Adelson, adding, “We are an Asian company with a presence in the United States.”

He said that Singapore’s “citizen-oriented” culture in which the government places priority on its citizens’ lifestyle – from culture, education, health and now entertainment – was the right fit for his businesses.

He said that the transparency of the government, its reliability and predictability and its “zero tolerance” for exceptions were some things he appreciated.

“I like it. The inflexibility comes with a guarantee of reliability, transparency and predictability. If I were to move anywhere in the world, I’d pick Singapore. It’s a great place to raise children. It just needs more nightlife which is why there are the IRs.”

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