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may24 SJM Holdings has bought an older, three-storey building on Macao’s Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro – commonly known by its Cantonese name San Ma Lo – and plans to turn it into a mass market “food and beverage hotspot.” The building, which currently functions as the Kam Pek Community Centre, was acquired for a sum of HK$166 million (US$21.2 million), according to  a statement  released by the concessionaire yesterday. The vendor was SJM’s parent company Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, S.A. (STDM). SJM says the refurbished community centre will serve “as a culinary anchor at one end” of the avenue, with the company’s “Grand Lisboa and Hotel Lisboa at the opposite end.” https://macaonews.org/food-drink/macau-sjm-kam-pek-community-centre-food-dining-macao/  may24 Macau concessionaire SJM Holdings  released its 1Q24 financial results  on Thursday, with revenue and EBITDA improvements largely in line with expectations. But one lingering concern remains the...

jun24 One of the Hong Kong government’s top tourism advisers – the leisure and entertainment mogul Allan Zeman – says the city is lagging behind Macao when it comes to attractions.  His comments will come as a stark warning to a Hong Kong tourism industry struggling to find its post-pandemic direction, with long-haul markets remaining sluggish and the domestic market shifting from affluent mainland Chinese travellers to penny-pinching day-trippers. In remarks  published  by the  South China Morning Post  over the weekend, Zeman said Macao has things “we don’t have” and praised the Macao government’s efforts to diversify away from gambling as a tourist draw. “Macao is becoming an exciting city. Every week there’s new names coming, putting on shows, and it’s competition for us,” he said. Zeman added: “The casinos earn a lot of money, so they can keep bringing out new things and reinventing themselves … Macao has suddenly become a very fun place to go to.” He said ...

jan25 Galaxy is reportedly the second gaming operator in Macao to have completed its smart table rollout for mass baccarat, which is by far the  most popular form of gambling  in the SAR. That’s  according  to trade publication Inside Asian Gaming, which cited a note from Citigroup analysts sent on Monday. Analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau’s said an additional 74 smart tables were operating in Galaxy Macau’s “grind mass” area – using an industry term referring to low-stakes mass market gambling – while nine such new tables had appeared at StarWorld. “We believe Galaxy has become the second casino operator in Macao to have fully deployed smart tables for its mass baccarat operations,” they wrote. The concessionaire follows in the footsteps of MGM China, which has reportedly been the SAR’s most  proactive adopter  of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. [ See more:   ‘Smart tables’ won’t mean less staff, Sands China’s vice chairman says ...