Marina Bay Sands (MBS), Singapore’s renowned casino and hotel resort, is embarking on a significant expansion of its downtown property, with plans to construct a fourth tower by 2029. After being hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic, MBS announced on Friday that full-scale construction will commence by July 2025, aiming for completion by July 2029.

The Venue Remains Integral to Singapore’s Tourism

The ambitious expansion project first revealed in 2019 with a budget of 4.5 billion Singapore dollars ($3.33 billion), faced substantial delays due to pandemic-induced shutdowns. However, with ongoing support from the Singapore government, MBS is moving forward with its visionary plans to enhance the city-state’s leisure and business tourism appeal.

Patrick Dumont, president and chief operating officer of MBS’s parent company, Las Vegas Sands, emphasized the significance of the expansion in driving high-value tourism growth to Singapore. He highlighted that the project would optimize the venue’s programming elements while aligning with Singapore’s strategic objectives. The expansion aims to play a pivotal role in attracting more travelers to Singapore.

With the ongoing support of the Singapore government, this development will further enhance the leisure and business tourism appeal of Singapore.

Patrick Dumont, Las Vegas Sands president and chief operating officer

Since its inception at a development cost of $5.6 billion, MBS has welcomed over 470 million visitors, significantly contributing to Singapore’s business tourism appeal by hosting over 1,750 MICE events. The venue aims to remain at the cutting edge, regularly introducing new improvements and keeping its offerings fresh and exciting.

Existing Amenities Will Also Receive Improvements

The planned expansion features a luxury hotel tower with an impressive sky roof and a 15,000-seat entertainment arena. Additionally, it will create space for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) while introducing new dining, beverage, and nightlife options. Separate from the hotel expansion, MBS is investing $1.75 billion in its existing property, enhancing existing amenities.

The expansion aims to play a pivotal role in attracting more travelers to Singapore. The new entertainment arena should draw top entertainers who previously may have overlooked Southeast Asia in their tours. Additional MICE space will facilitate hosting more events in the city-state, capitalizing on Macau’s increasing focus on mainland China.

With international visitor arrivals reaching 71% of pre-pandemic levels in 2023 and tourism profits reaching up to $19.2 billion, Singapore’s hospitality sector is well on its path to a full recovery. The Singapore Tourism Board anticipates further improvement this year, driven by the gradual restoration of global air travel capacity and the increasing interest in South Asia as a leisure destination.

The post Marina Bay Sands to Build Fourth Tower by 2029 appeared first on Keno Wizard.

The approval, listed in URA data released at the end of the December 2023 quarter, allows Marina Bay Sands (MBS) to proceed with its expansion project, which significantly bolsters guest capacity, expanding the venue’s impressive hotel and retail space. The project is situated alongside MBS’s existing three towers and should help attract new customers, significantly bolstering revenues.

The Operator Met All Regulatory Requirements

The approved project encompasses the construction of a hotel with 587 rooms, covering 153,100 square meters of hotel space and an additional 12,185 square meters allocated for retail space. The new tower will occupy an empty plot adjacent to MBS’s existing three towers. MBS has not provided a firm timeline, but the project’s scale means its completion will likely extend beyond 2024.

Securing official government approval marks a crucial milestone in the integrated resort operator’s expansion plans. MBS parent firm Las Vegas Sands (LVS) president and COO Patrick Dumont noted that the company maintained close collaboration with the Singapore government, ensuring that the fourth tower project would meet all regulatory requirements.

There’s a lot of moving parts here, a lot of things we have to satisfy. We want to make sure that everyone is comfortable with it and that we get all the proper approvals.

Patrick Dumont,  Las Vegas Sands president and COO

While MBS’ initial 2019 plans envisioned a fourth hotel tower with roughly 1,000 new rooms, recent upgrades to the property’s existing hotel spaces have focused on introducing new suite products. The revamp of Towers 1 and 2 increased the number of suites from 137 to 422, giving the company more flexibility with the design of Tower 4.

Tower 4 Will Elevate the Guest Experience to New Heights

Las Vegas Sands is targeting an annualized EBITDA of over $3 billion for MBS once the construction of the fourth tower is completed. Following the release of financial results for Q4 and FY23, which showed MBS recording annual EBITDA of $1.86 billion, with a record $544 million in the December quarter, LVS chairman and CEO Robert Goldstein expressed confidence in continued profit growth.

MBS likewise hopes the planned expansion will bolster the resort’s popularity, attracting more guests. The company highlighted that the new tower will contain a “rooftop attraction” featuring a sky pool and signature restaurant, MICE facilities comprising meeting rooms, function rooms, and exhibition halls, along with a state-of-the-art live entertainment area seating a minimum of 15,000 people.

LVS sees substantial potential for profit growth in the coming years, leveraging the iconic status of Marina Bay Sands and ongoing upgrade works. The resort has become a mainstay of Singapore’s tourism sector and should continue enjoying significant success, revitalized by the addition of the upcoming tower and its industry-leading amenities.

The post Marina Bay Sands Receives Green Light for Fourth Hotel Tower appeared first on Keno Wizard.

The case concerns one Silitonga Andri Parulian, a 27-year-old tourist from Indonesia, who was traveling to Singapore for leisure. Silitonga was visiting Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Casino when he found the vouchers, worth some $18,000 (S$24,000) and immediately decided to withdraw the amounts and head out.

According to investigators, the vouchers were dropped accidentally from a folder by Tham Wan Nyit, a manager in charge of slot machine operations at the casino. A total of eight tickets were dropped worth S$3,000 each.

The Indonesian man, stumbling upon them, decided to put them to good use instead, and bagged the net worth of the tickets right away. His luck has run out, however, as he will now spend four months in jail over failure to return the tickets and after he pled guilty to a single charge of dishonestly misappropriating money.

Although Silitonga had no intent in procuring the tickets, the court still found him guilty. He stumbled upon the vouchers by accident, as he was about to enter the Ruby Room to gamble when he saw the tickets on the floor and collected them. Investigators though claimed that the man made no attempt to return the tickets back to security.

Silitonga did not use the money and play. He cashed out the tickets and headed directly to Changi Airport where he wanted to buy a ticket to Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital. No flights were available, however, so he spent the night at the airport while contacting a friend to help him transfer S$2,000 into his Indonesian bank account.

Remitting the Money Back Home

The friend told him to just use a remittance service moving forward, and Silitonga started remitting the money back home, using various accounts – his own, his friend’s, and his girlfriend’s. However, at the venue things were agog. Tham became aware of the missing tickets and he notified policy who examined the CCTV footage and found out that Silitonga was indeed the person who had collected the money.

He was finally arrested at the airport prior to his departure. The man though has refused to return the S$17,000 he has remitted to various accounts and did not tell what he did with the rest of the money. He made no restitutions nor did he try to return the money. His only alleviating factor in his sentencing was the fact that he admitted guilt and thus received a lighter sentence.

On the whole, Silitonga dodged a bullet, as his sentence could have been much stiffer, leading to up to two years in prison and a fine. Then again, if he had agreed to return the money, he may have avoided some of the prison time he is now going to serve.  

The post Singapore Jails Tourist for Cashing Out Found Vouchers at Marina Bay Sands appeared first on Keno Wizard.

The latest such action has been taken against a 45-year-old Malaysian who is suspected to be a part of an international criminal syndicate. The man is said to have recorded cards dealt during a game of baccarat hosted out of the Marina Bay Sands, the regulated land-based casino in the jurisdiction.

Police Cooperates with Malaysia to Bring in the Man

The Singapore Police have released details about the suspect, who is linked to a probe by the Casino Crime Investigation Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department. Previously, the Department went after a 27-year-old Taiwanese man and another Malaysian man aged 35. Both have been charged as members of a criminal syndicate, with the police confiscating more than $520,000 worth of casino chips, cash, and a mobile phone in their possession.

The latest suspect was arrested on Thursday, June 8, with the help of the Royal Malaysia Police but he was sent back to Singapore last week. In Singapore, a court charged the man with a conspiracy to use things prohibited under Section 171(1) for the purposes of gambling. The charges were delivered on the very next day – Friday, June 9.

If found guilty, the 45-year-old suspect could face up to seven years and a fine up to $111,000, or both. Singapore has reformed its penal code regarding casino and gambling offenses recently, and it takes a much tougher stance on organizers of illegal gambling activities than it does on participants.

Singapore Police Remains Vigilant on Matters of Illegal Gambling

In the meantime, the Singapore Police Force has assured that it would not leave instances of criminal activities linked to gambling unpunished. The police have been actively participating in various investigations, including a large-scale recent probe that names 89 people as possibly involved in illegal horse betting activities.

The Singapore Police Force released details about this particular case late in May, saying that 85 men and four women aged 38-84 were all possibly involved. They were arrested over a ten-day period between May 10 and May 20. The case was made public by local media outlets, including The Strait Times, and the police is now sorting the suspects, who are threatened by a $7,400 fine or a prison sentence of up to six months, or both.

The post Singapore Arrests Criminal for Recording Cards at Marina Bay Sands appeared first on Keno Wizard.

Light & Wonder is aiming high in Asia with its participation in Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia. The event runs from May 30 to June 1 this year at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

While precise details will not be publically available until revealed at the show for some of the company’s advancements in the Asian market, the former Scientific Games has teased some info on its comprehensive cross-platform loyalty program with an array of customizable features for operators to retain and attract customers.

Differentiating Solutions from Industry Leaders

The new Systems enhancement will complement the current products in use and give operators a distinctly differentiated solution for integration into platforms already in use across the loyalty space.

Regarding the behemoth game provider and developer’s debut of new games meant to capture and keep players in one of the world’s most rapidly developing markets, each pick seems capable of carrying its weight to help L & W reach the goal of Number One in Asia.

Starting with the electronic table game (ETG), RouletteX, players stand a chance to win much more on a roulette game than they normally would. By choosing their own volatility (risk v reward) players can reap up to 500x their bet on a single number. The game is played on Light & Wonder’s Quartz Standalone and Hybrid platform.

Dragon Tail Baccarat is now available for play on the Quarts Stand-alone system. The new title offers free games and side bats along with a touch screen that displays a variety of interactive features for the player to choose from. Operators on the other hand will have access to statistics, trend displays that can be custom-configured, game history, a bet scheduler, and a timer option as options to offer players.

Not to risk being mired in excellent floor games before even mentioning slots and progressive slots we’d be remiss not to bring up the company’s 2022 Global Gaming Awards Asia’s “Casino Product of the Year,” the MDX card shuffler. It is deserving of its own showcase and will receive it at the show along with some of the live dealer games served by it.

The time-proven Blazing 7s Blackjack Progressive will be featured and find its way to Asian casino floors this year with side bets based on 7-pip cards. Players who choose to play the 7s will win if their first card is a 7 – win even more if their second is a seven and go rolling in the bank if the dealer’s first card is a 7 too.

“Our Asian customers are excited to energize their casino floors and discover the tremendous value created for their players who want more modern, immersive game content with solutions and services to enhance the guest experience,” said Simon Johnson, Light & Wonder Senior Vice President and Managing Director, International Gaming.

“Light & Wonder is taking the lead in performance and ship share across key Asian markets, an indicator that our ambition to be number one in the Asian market is well on its way to be actualized. To respond to this forward momentum and the demand for next-generation content, our team of award-winning game designers and studios have created a robust pipeline of next-level experiences, content, technology and systems that will reach across multiple platforms and markets.”

Slots for Asia Extend Popular Franchises

Popular game families and franchise strings from Light & Wonder that will see new editions and additions for Asia include Dragon Unleashed, DUŌ FÚ DUŌ CÁI GRAND, Dancing Drums Explosion, and Coin Combo.

Coin Combo adds VIP to its name as well as titles such as Carnival Cow and Hyper Horse with progressive jackpots. Both of the franchise extensions were purpose-built specifically for the Asian market and will be available on the KASCADA Portrait 43” cabinet.

A Dual Screen version of the Kascada will debut at the show for the very first time. Edge lighting and a signature reflector compliment the 43″ cabinet to give it a striking presence on any casino floor. Look for the market-unique cabinets to feature two high-resolution 27” monitors and a floating 27” topper for dynamic game content.

Ingotcha and Dragons are two new titles joining the DUŌ FÚ DUŌ CÁI Grand family of games with jackpot-rich features. Player-favorite features remain in popular games but innovations improve playability and broaden the audience.

Red Fleet and Treasured Happiness are two titles joining Dragon Unleashed in that franchise and the new games carry the originals deep into big win territory with free games and respins adding to the familiar features. The franchise is now arguably one of the most exciting game series to be found on any casino floor and has been added to the Kascada Duel Screen cabinet for side-by-side theatrical game presence – especially during the Dragon Reel feature.

Source: Light & Wonder aiming for number one in Asia at Singapore show, G3 Newswire, May 24, 2023

The post Light & Wonder shooting for #1 in Asia at G2E – Marina Bay Sands in Singapore appeared first on Keno Wizard.

The Marina Bay Sands integrated casino resort has embraced the 21st century, rolling out new features on its mobile app. Guests will now have a variety of quality-of-life improvements at the tip of their fingers.

The Singaporean venue has added a myriad of new features, such as remote check-ins, allowing customers to avoid waiting at the reception. Guests who check in through the Marina Bay Sands app will be able to directly access their rooms using their phones as digital keycards.

The Smart Hotel feature is an effort to improve the overall hospitality experience for its guests. They can use the app to find all the important information they might want to know, see what’s new, check the rewards program and manage parking spots.

In addition to all that, customers can use the app when in the hotel to order food for their room or request in-room amenities. Finally, guests can use the app to check out before leaving, once again skipping the tedious waiting at the reception.

The innovations will allow guests to maximize their time by saving precious minutes that they can use to explore the hotel, go for a walk or wager at the casino.

The IR Is Bullish on Innovating

Paul Town, the chief operating officer of Marina Bay Sands, noted that the property has always sought to leverage technology to improve its standards and provide guests with better experiences. The enhanced mobile app, he said, attests to the property’s vision and desire.

Town said that the mobile offerings are a breakthrough for the hotel and will provide its guests with more value.

Regarded as a breakthrough for a standalone hotel of our scale in Singapore, our new mobile offerings will enable an effortless end-to-end guest experience to create new value for our customers.

Paul Town, COO, Marina Bay Sands

Town added that the innovations will allow his team to commit itself to higher-value service tasks. He said that Marina Bay Sands’ aim is to revolutionize check-ins and allow guests to optimize their time at the property.

The COO concluded that the hotel has big plans for its digital offerings and will invest more in enhancing the customer journey across more touchpoints.

Around the same time a year ago, Marina Bay Sands struggled with the impact of COVID-19 and the manpower shortage it caused. Because of that, the company launched a two-day recruitment fair, followed by a scholarship initiative.

The post Marina Bay Sands Modernizes App, Allows Remote Check-ins appeared first on Keno Wizard.