THE MACAU METRO MONITOR, JUNE 24 2013
HAZARDOUS FIRE HAZE CLOUDS OUTLOOK FOR SINGAPORE TOURISM Bloomberg, WSJ
The record haze may prompt more visitors to reconsider trips to Singapore. Resorts World Sentosa has closed several outdoor attractions, while Wildlife Reserves Singapore, which runs the famed Singapore Zoo, said it had observed a small decline in visitor numbers. Some inhabitants of Singapore, which number 5.3 million with foreigners accounting for about a third, are trying to escape the island state. Skyscanner, a global travel search website saw a 22% increase in outbound flight searches last week compared with the same period in the previous week
VISITOR ARRIVALS FOR MAY 2013 DSEC
Macau visitor arrivals increased by 9.1% YoY to 2,342,523 in May 2013. In May 2013, visitors from Mainland China increased by 17.3% YoY to 1,491,231, mainly coming from Guangdong Province (643,267) and Fujian Province (67,609); Mainland visitors traveling under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) totalled 598,790. Visitors from the Republic of Korea (33,113) increased by 5.8% YoY, while those from Hong Kong (540,056), Taiwan (61,988) and the Philippines (29,231) decreased by 0.1%, 21.4% and 0.7%. The average length of stay of visitors held stable from a year earlier, at 1.0 day in May 2013.
GAMING ECHO UNVEILS USD 1 BILLION SYDNEY CASINO EXTENSION Macau Daily Times
Echo Entertainment Group Ltd, licensed to run Sydney’s only casino until 2019, plans to spend more than A$1.1 billion (USD1 billion) expanding the property to fend off a challenge from billionaire James Packer’s Crown Ltd. The proposed extensions to Echo’s harborside Star casino include two new hotels and more than 50 bars and restaurants. Echo also proposes making a A$250 million payment to the New South Wales government to extend its exclusive casino licence, it said. This comes after Packer last month unveiled rival plans for a A$1 billion hotel-casino project at Barangaroo, a development site southwest of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
