LEISURE LETTER (10/12/2015) - MPEL, BLOOMBERRY, AIRBNB, RCL, NCLH, UBER

10/12/15 09:54AM EDT

TICKERS: MPEL, BLOOMBERRY, AIRBNB, RCL, NCLH, UBER 

COMPANY NEWS 

MPEL - Melco International Development Ltd says it will persist with a solo bid for a license to run a casino near the Spanish city of Barcelona.  Melco International told the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that one subsidiary no longer had a partnership with a Spanish company that had been pursuing a license, but that another subsidiary would press on with an independent bid.

ARTICLE HERE

BLOOMBERRY- Philippines casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp has acquired a 15,676-square-metre (168,735 sq feet) plot in Quezon City, one of the cities that make up Metro Manila, the national capital region of the Philippines.

The PHP1.98-billion ($43.16-million) acquisition – via Sureste Properties Inc, the hotel and resort development arm of Bloomberry Resorts – was announced on Friday in a filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange.  Previous news reports stated that the Vertis North project would include residential, office, retail and hotel space. There was no mention to casino facilities.

ARTICLE HERE

AIRBNB - Airbnb accounted for 5% of room revenue in NYC: New research compiled by PKF Hospitality Research found that Airbnb accounted for 5% of room revenue distribution in New York City during the second quarter of 2015.

The average rate charged by Airbnb units during that time was $157 compared to $276 by hotels.  The same research, unveiled Thursday at The Lodging Conference, reported 47,295 total Airbnb reservations in NYC during August. The alternative accommodations platform accounted for approximately 9% of hotel demand during that period. 

ARTICLE HERE

Takeaway: While a glut of supply drags on NYC, Airbnb has also peeled off demand. Paris is the city most impacted by Airbnb.

RCL - Royal Caribbean plans to dry dock the 3,634-guest Liberty of the Seas in January 2016. The dry dock will give the ship new upgrades pertaining to everything waterslides to cuisine. 26 new state rooms will also be added to the ship through the dry dock process.

ARTICLE HERE

NCLH - Norwegian Cruise Line will introduce the first purpose-built ship customized for the China market in 2017, NCLH CEO Frank Del Rio announced today during the CruiseWorld China summit in Shanghai.   

  • "Our new purpose-built ship for China will have characteristics that are authentic to Norwegian Cruise Line and yet distinctively Chinese in all of its sensibility," said Del Rio.  
  • "With this new ship, Norwegian will unquestionably offer our Chinese guests a superior product and introduce a new standard of innovation and excellence into the marketplace, with an unrivaled level of customization for the Chinese consumer.  It will perfectly suit what modern Chinese travelers value from an upscale cruise experience."

ARTICLE HERE

Takeaway: Supply continues to ramp up in China. 

 

UBER - HNA Group has joined Uber China’s rank of investors, and its investment has helped boost Uber China’s valuation to nearly $8 billion, according to media reports.  Uber has been actively attracting investors, and Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick told Sina.com on September 7 that Uber China had already pocketed US$1.2 billion in its ongoing financing from Chinese investors like Baidu while other investors would also join further down the road.  By September 24 it was reported that Uber was seeking to raise up to US$2.5 billion for its China operations.

ARTICLE HERE

INDUSTRY NEWS    

Golden Week RevPAR - The average occupancy rate of Macau’s five-star hotels decreased to 88.69% during the National Day golden week of holidays in the mainland this month, 3.31% less than in the corresponding period last year, the Macau Government Tourist Office says.

  • The office’s data indicate that the occupancy rate decreased in spite of the average room rate in five-star hotels falling by 19.14% to MOP1,958 ($244.75).
  • The average room rates in across all chain scales fell, but the average occupancy rate rose only in four-star hotels, by 0.49% to 84.43%.

ARTICLE HERE

Takeaway: Wait until the new supply comes on line...

Golden Week Travel Data - A total of 526 million trips were made nationally in China over the National Day holidays and RMB421.3 billion was spent during the period, up 10.7% and 17.9% respectively compared with the same period last year, according to the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA).  Travel demand was released all at once during the holiday period. Of the 526 million visitors nation-wide during the holiday, 114 million were overnight stays and 412 million were day trips, up 14.7% and 9.8% y-o-y respectively.

ARTICLE HERE

Takeaway:  Strong visitation translated into better than expected table revenues for the casinos but still decidedly down from last year.

Atlanta Casino - Georgia Governor, Nathan Deal plans to oppose the gambling push now underway at the state Capitol, telling The Atlanta Journal-Constitution exclusively that he expects to take an active role against the effort. It’s the first time the governor has said as much — in previous comments, he indicated he would stand back despite a personal opposition to the idea. 

  • Deal left open the possibility he would change his mind, but only if the industry agreed to a significantly higher tax rate than the 12 percent currently proposed.
  • “If they’re willing to put anywhere from 24 to 35% of their gross revenue into education…as the (Georgia Lottery) does, that will be a totally different proposition,” Deal said. “I don’t think we’re going to see any of them take us up on the offer.”

ARTICLE HERE

Takeaway: MGM and LVS have been interested in casino project ATL. 

REGIONAL REVENUES (SEPT): 

  • NY Total GGR:  +5.7% YoY
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