Singapore legalized casino gaming in 2006. Genting Singapore PLC opened its resort, Resorts World Sentosa, in Sentosa, Singapore in February 2010 and Las Vegas Sands Corporation opened its casino at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore in April 2010. In December 2016, a law which established the fundamental legal basis for the development of integrated resorts in Japan took effect, with further corresponding legislation providing a more detailed legislative framework for the development and implementation of integrated resorts in Japan taking effect in July 2018. In addition, several other Asian countries are considering or are in the process of legalizing gambling and establishing casino-based entertainment complexes.
We may also face competition from hotels and resorts in the Philippines, including many of the largest gaming, hospitality, leisure and resort companies in the world. These include Travellers International Hotel Group, Inc.,Bloomberry Resorts Corporation, Tiger Resorts Leisure and Entertainment Inc., Melco Resorts Leisure (PHP) Corporation as well as Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
Genting Highlands is a popular international gaming resort in Malaysia, approximately aone-hour drive from Kuala Lumpur. We believe that the Genting Highlands caters to a different market than Macau, in large part because of the distance and travel times from the Greater China population centers from which Macau is expected to draw its principal traffic.
South Korea has allowed casinos for foreigners for some time including Seven Luck Casino and Paradise Walker Hill Casino in Seoul and Paradise Casinos in Busan and Incheon. Recently, Kangwon Land Casino opened in an old mining area of South Korea and began to accept Korean nationals.
Star Cruises (Hong Kong) Ltd., or Star Cruises, is a leading cruise line in the Asia Pacific and is one of the largest cruise line operators in the world. Worldwide, Star Cruises presently operates a combined fleet of approximately 20 ships with more than 26,000 lower berths. Star Cruises vessels in Asia Pacific offer extensive gaming activities to their passengers. These cruise vessels may compete for Asian-based patrons with Studio City Casino gaming operations in Macau.
There are a number of casino complexes in certain tourist destinations in Cambodia such as Dailin, Bavet, Poipet, Sihanoukville and Koh Kong, but they are relatively small compared to those in Macau.
In addition, there are major gaming facilities in Australia located in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and the Gold Coast.
Seasonality
Macau, which is our principal market of operation, experiences many peaks and seasonal effects. The “Golden Week” and “Chinese New Year” holidays are generally the key periods where business and visitation increase considerably in Macau. While we may experience fluctuations in revenues and cash flows from month to month, we do not believe that our business is materially impacted by seasonality.
Staff
There were 4,374, 4,520 and 4,812 dedicated staff members as of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively, performing services solely at Studio City.
The Gaming Operator is responsible for the hiring, managing and training of the gaming staff and deducts such costs relating to such gaming staff from Studio City Casino’s gross gaming revenue in accordance with the Services and Right to Use Arrangements. Under the Master Services Agreements, the Melco Affiliates recruit, place, allocate, train, manage and supervise the staff who are solely dedicated to our property to perform corporate and administrative functions and carry out othernon-gaming activities, and the relevant personnel costs are charged back to us. In addition, we receive certain centralized corporate and management services from the senior management and other shared service staff of the Melco Affiliates who devote a portion of their time under the arrangements.
The property president and property chief financial officer are employed by us and oversee the operations of Studio City. The following table indicates the distribution of these staff by function pursuant to the Master Services Agreements as of December 31, 2018:
| | | | |
Function | | Number of Staff | |
Management, Administrative and Finance | | | 35 | |
Gaming | | | 1,775 | |
Hotel | | | 698 | |
Food and Beverage | | | 916 | |
Property Operations | | | 509 | |
Entertainment and Projects | | | 125 | |
Marketing | | | 195 | |
Others | | | 121 | |
| | | | |
Total | | | 4,374 | |
| | | | |
Through the Master Services Agreements, we are able to leverage the resources and platform of the Melco Affiliates to have qualified staff dedicated to working on our property. Our success depends on the ability of the Melco Affiliates and us to attract, retain, motivate, and inspire qualified personnel. We believe that we maintain a good working relationship with the staff working at Studio City. We have not experienced any significant labor disputes. None of the dedicated staff members performing services solely at Studio City are members of any labor union and neither we nor any of the Melco Affiliates are a party to any collective bargaining or similar agreement with such staff.
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