MELCO Crown Entertainment is set to open its US$3.2 billion cinematically themed gaming, entertainment and leisure destination resort, Studio City, in Macau the middle of this year.
Entertainment options include the DC Comics’ Batman Dark Flight offering digital rides with a virtual reality Batman experience, the Golden Eye boasting a 130m ferris wheel; and a 5,000-seat multi-purpose entertainment centre with live magic shows at the House of Magic.
Other offerings include a 1,600-room hotel, a 300-seat live-audience TV broadcast studio, Pacha Nightclub, as well as retail and F&B outlets.
Located next to the 24-hour Lotus Bridge immigration point connecting Hengqin of Zhuhai, Studio City expects to attract customers through this easy entry point.
Melco Crown Entertainment co-chairman and CEO, Lawrence Ho, said: “Our move is in line with Macau’s tourism development and diversification. As our second IR in town, the Studio City will even feature more non-gaming elements than City of Dreams.
“Taking advantage of the location, we’ll expect people to walk cross the Lotus bridge to our premises. Still, our products are more premium than many of the resorts in Cotai right now; we have strong premium components with a mass focus.”
According to Macau Government Tourist Office director, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, the city is preparing for a second wave of new themed mega-complexes in the coming years to boost its allure as a tourist destination.
“These new complexes, coupled with other ongoing developments in the city such as major transport infrastructure construction, renovation of new heritage sites, and initiatives to reinforce our already-rich calendar of events, will continue to transform Macau into a world centre of tourism and leisure, providing visitors from around the globe more reasons to come and stay longer.”
CITS (Macau) manager of international department, Cooper Zhang, welcomed this new IR as a reinforcement to the city’s non-gaming elements to draw diversified arrivals.
