Sands Cotai Central boss speaks ahead of reopening

Sands China will donate 30,000 bottles of hand sanitizer to local charity groups as part of Coronavirus relief efforts.

Macau.- Sands China President Dr Wilfred Wong has talked about the re-opening of its Sands Cotai Central property later this week after closing for more than three weeks. 

Wong talked to the media at a charity event on Monday in which Sands China announced it was donating 30,000 bottles of hand sanitizer to local support groups helping in the fight against Coronavirus.

Despite the reopening, he described recent months as the most difficult for Macau’s gaming industry since it opened.

“Business after re-opening is bad and we cannot even compare how bad it is with the past. This difficult time will last until the resumption of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) and tour groups from mainland China.” he said.

“Some reduction of gaming revenues had occurred in previous years, but guests were still able to come at that time. Now guests are not allowed to come. And although the medical tests imposed on tourists is a good preventive measure for Macau, for mainland tourists, they won’t be willing to wait several hours to cross into Macau. Some tourists just won’t return.” Wong added.