Sand Cotai Central open in April; Macau gambling workers increase; IGT Cloud heads for Estonia

sands macau igtSands Cotai Central will become Macau’s latest entertainment venue when it opens its doors next month. Sands China confirmed earlier the multi-purpose site will open on April 11 and the hope is it becomes the centre for everything in Cotai. It has near on 5,000 hotel rooms and suites with significant space set aside for conventions, meetings, dining and retail. Las Vegas Sands and Sands China chairman Sheldon Adelson mused: “The opening of Sands Cotai Central is a game changer for the future of Macao as a leisure, entertainment and business location. On behalf of our entire company, we are proudly looking forward to introducing visitors from around the world to the largest integrated resort development ever constructed.”

More than 50,000 of Macau’s residents work in the enclave’s burgeoning gambling industry. Macau’s Statistics and Census Bureau reports this represents 14.5 percent of the enclave’s working population of 345,000 and is an increase of 12 percent compared with last year. Croupiers increased by 16.7 percent to 22,000 whilst average full-time salaries rose to 16,270 patacas (US$2,090) – a rise of 6.5 percent.

International Game Technology (IGT) has hooked up with the Olympic Casino Eesti to provide another venue with their cloud technology. IGT Cloud will reduce capital expenditure by allowing download and configuration of casino games onto the venue floor and Meelis Pielberg, member of the board at Olympic Casino Eesti, commented: “The effect that the IGT Cloud will have on our daily activities will impact not only the analytical aspects of Olympic Casino Eesti, but it will have a profound impact on our overall player experience. Having the unique opportunity to make decisions regarding game configuration will allow us to completely change the player experience in an informed way that is completely tailored to their preferences.”