The Macau Metro Monitor.  February 8th, 2010.

 

SINGAPORE APPROVES CASINO Wall Street Journal

Singapore granted Genting Singapore its gaming license, allowing Resort World's casino to open by next week's Chinese New Year.

'TOTAL NONSENSE' MAKES A LOT OF SENSE reviewjournal.com

Despite Lawrence Ho's comment that a deal with Harrah's is "total nonsense", gaming insiders claim that Harrah's is still working on acquiring Packer's 32.5% interest in Melco Crown but "the paperwork hasn't been signed yet."  Loveman told the Review-Journal in June he wanted to bring the Caesars brand to Macau. He made similar comments to Bloomberg.

JANUARY AIR PASSENGER VOLUME UP 4.8 PERCENT Macau  Daily Times

The Macau International Airport (MIA) reported 4.8% increase in the passenger volumes this January, and expects increased air traffic during the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays. Airlines are planning to add more flights to mainland China during the Chinese New Year to accommodate the travel demand. Additional flights will fly to popular destinations such as mainland China, Taiwan, Thailand and Japan, the MIA said.


CASH HANDOUT MAY CONTINUE THIS YEAR Macau  Daily Times

Portuguese channel of Radio Macau reported yesterday, that the SAR government is considering another cash handout scheme again in 2010, but permanent residents may be the only recipients.  The amount of the scheme would likely be the same or slightly greater than the payouts in 2009.  Last year each Macau permanent resident received MOP 6,000 while each non-permanent resident received MOP 3,600 in the scheme. Additionally, in 2009 each local permanent resident received MOP500 worth of health care vouchers. Radio Macau said the health care subsidy scheme will also be retained this year.

LUNAR NEW YEAR VISITOR RUSH macaubusiness.com

The number of visitors during Chinese New Year is expected to increase 10% y-o-y according to Macau Travel Industry Council president Andy Wu Keng Kuong.  Hotel occupancy rate stands at 90% for the Lunar New Year period, a 10% increase over 2009.