Economic headwinds do not dampen outlook for new Marina Bay development: Las Vegas Sands president

SINGAPORE – Consumer spending in the Asia-Pacific is currently dampened due to geopolitical factors, but Mr Patrick Dumont remains unfazed about long-term business projections for the upcoming Las Vegas Sands development.

“We think in 10, 20-year terms,” said Mr Dumont, who is the president and chief operating officer at Las Vegas Sands, Marina Bay Sands’ (MBS) parent company.

“South-east Asia is filled with young people who are entrepreneurial, aspirational and working very hard and creating business success, and as that occurs, they want to consume, and experience things that are unique, luxury and aspirational.”

Las Vegas Sands’

new US$8 billion (S$10.3 billion) development

is set to be completed by 2030 and open in the first quarter of 2031. 

The complex will comprise 570 luxury hotel suites, a casino, a 15,000-seat entertainment arena, and 200,000 sq ft of meeting and convention space. It will also have a “Skyloop” – a counterpart to the current MBS SkyPark – and high-end restaurants.

“This is going to be the most luxurious and high-serviced hotel in the world,” Mr Dumont told The Straits Times on July 14, a day before the ground-breaking on the new development.

The new complex costs almost 50 per cent more than the US$5.6 billion that was pumped into the development of the existing MBS integrated resort by Las Vegas Sands 15 years ago.

Despite being targeted at the ultra-luxury market, it will have public spaces open to everybody – such as the new Skyloop on the roof, where two overlapping elliptical decks are stacked on top of each other.

The lower Skyloop will have several public areas, including an observatory, restaurants and rooftop gardens, while above, hotel guests will have private cabanas and infinity-edge pools. There will also be a wellness terrace for events.

Singapore is “incredibly desirable” to Las Vegas Sands and its significant investments because so many people want to come to the Republic to live and do business, said Mr Dumont.

“So, it is very important for us to continue to invest and grow our capabilities, to maintain leadership in the industry... This is the next evolution in high-value tourism investment.”

The focus on high-spending business and leisure tourists aligns with the Government’s focus, he noted.

For example, the authorities have

identified the Mice (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) segment

as a key growth engine for Singapore tourism. Mice visitors are expected to contribute 10 per cent, or $3.5 billion, of the country’s tourism receipts by 2040.

The upcoming entertainment arena, for instance, will be able to hold both live performances and Mice events.

“We will have a connection through a bridge that will allow people to have a large Mice event and then also use the arena for other purposes as part of that event,” said Mr Dumont, adding that it is important for the new development to include amenities not available in the existing MBS property.

He also envisions the new development having a larger impact on the Marina Bay district as a whole in what he described as a “halo effect”.

“Where it not only enhances our ability to conduct tourism and drive people to Singapore and to our properties, but also enhances the Marina Bay district as a desirable tourism destination because of the amenities that we will provide.”