The
Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, SA is a company in
MacauThe Macau Special Administrative Region , commonly known as Macau or Macao , is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong...
owned by
Stanley HoStanley Ho, OBE, GBS, GLM , also known as Ho Hung-sun, Stanley Ho Hung-sun , is an entrepreneur in Hong Kong and Macau. Ho is sometimes nicknamed "The King of Gambling", reflecting the government-granted monopoly he held of the Macau gambling industry for 40 years.Ho is the wealthiest person in...
and his family. Historically it held a monopoly to Macau's gambling industry as the only licensee for casinos. In 2002, the Macau government began issuing more licenses and the monopoly was broken. Still, of the 30 casinos in operation in Macau, 14 are owned by Stanley Ho.
History
The company was founded in 1962 by Stanley Ho and his then partners
Teddy YipTeddy Yip, a Dutch national, was a Formula 1 team owner in the 1970s. He was born Medan, in the then Dutch colony of Sumatra island in Indonesia in 1907. Yip was sent to Holland to study and later went into business. He moved to Hong Kong in the 1940s and began to build up his business empire which...
(Stanley Ho's brother-in-law through his sister, Susie Ho),
Yip HonYip Hon was a gambling tycoon in South China. His wealth was estimated to be HK$ 100 million. In his childhood, he stayed in Kong Mun of Kwangtung, and usually participated in gambling with his pocket money...
and
Henry FokHenry Fok Ying Tung was a Hong Kong businessman. He has ancestral roots in Nansha, Panyu, now part of Guangzhou, Guangdong)...
.
STDM faced difficulties but finally managed in 2008 to list its subsidiary Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM), which operates its casinos, in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This was because Stanley Ho's sister Winnie Ho Yuen-ki was objecting to the listing of SJM and filed various lawsuits against the company.
Activities
Ho owns eight
casinoA casino is a facility that houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships and other tourist attractions...
s, including
Casino LisboaCasino Lisboa is one of the most famous hotel casinos in Macau. The casino is owned by the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau , a Stanley Ho company. This three-storey complex was built in late 1960s...
, Macau's most famous casino. The casino features 107 slots and 146 table games. The property has six restaurants and a hotel with 1,000 rooms.
As casino gambling is illegal in Hong Kong, it is welcomed by tourists. Benefitting from the individual traveling policy between Hong Kong and Macau, the business of Casino Lisboa has increased rapidly, especially in the Chinese Lunar New Year. Within that period, the average daily income is HK$100 million. It is predicted that Lisboa will be required to pay HK$800 Million ($103 Million USD) on betting
dutyDuty is a term that conveys a sense of moral commitment to someone or something. The moral commitment is the sort that results in action, and it is not a matter of passive feeling or mere recognition...
.
In the 1960s, Ho owned nine casinos in the Philippines; however, Ho abandoned his Philippine business ventures due to
conflictConflict is actual or perceived opposition of needs, values and interests. A conflict can be internal to individuals. Conflict as a concept can help explain many aspects of social life such as social disagreement, conflicts of interests, and fights between individuals, groups, or organizations...
with the
presidentThe President of the Philippines is the head of state and government of the Republic of the Philippines. The President of the Philippines in Filipino is referred to as Ang Pangulo or Pangulo...
of that country.
Apart from casinos, football, horse race and dog race gambling are the other main income sources of Macau's gambling industry. Before football gambling betting rules were established in Hong Kong, football gambling in Macau was very popular among Hong Kong residents.
For many years, the gambling industry of Macau was solely owned by Ho's STDM. At one time Ho controlled up to 70% market share of Macau's gambling business. This era of monopoly came to an end in 2000.
In February 2000, the government of Macau SAR proposed to split Macau's gambling operation into three parts. The casinos in Macau were still under STDM, but those in
ColoaneColoane is one of the two main islands of Macau, located directly south of Macau's other main island, Taipa , and east of Hengqin Island of Zhuhai in Guangdong province, People's Republic of China....
(路環) and
TaipaTaipa is the smaller of the two islands in Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China . It is 2.5 kilometres from Macau Peninsula and east of the Lesser Hengqin Island of Zhuhai, Guangdong Province...
(氹仔) were opened for bidding. At last, in 2002, other casino operators were able to obtain
licenseThe verb license or grant license means to give permission. The noun license refers to that permission as well as to the document memorializing that permission. License may be granted by a party to another party as an element of an agreement between those parties...
s for casinos in Coloane and Taipa. The arrival of the
Sands MacauSands Macao is a casino resort located in Macau Peninsula, Macau. It is owned and operated by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, and was designed by Paul Steelman Design Group. It comprises a 229,000 square-foot casino, and a 51-suite VIP hotel...
and other planned destination resorts, such as
The Venetian MacaoThe Venetian Macao is a luxury hotel and casino resort in Macau owned by the Las Vegas Sands corporation. The Venetian is a 40-story, $2.4 billion anchor for the 7 resort hotels which are under construction on the Cotai Strip in Macau...
and the
Wynn MacauWynn Macau , owned by Wynn Resorts, is a luxury integrated resort in Macau Peninsula, Macau, People's Republic of China, offering gaming combined with a deluxe hotel, restaurants, designer shops, spa, and a "choreographed performance lake". It is the first Las Vegas-style integrated resort in Asia...
and those along the
Cotai StripThe Cotai Strip is the name of the casino and tourism project at the Cotai District, Macau, inspired by the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA....
, a
Las Vegas StripThe Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada. A small portion of the Strip lies in Las Vegas, but most of it is in the unincorporated areas of Paradise and Winchester...
-like development.
Hong Kong company owned by the family of Macau casino tycoon Stanley Ho invested up to a 30% stake in Air Macau's planned US$30 million low-cost airline in a press report.
Shun Tak Holdings has signed an agreement that the territory's flag carrier Air Macau and its parent China National Aviation Co will hold a majority stake in the airline, reported The Standard newspaper.
The carrier is expected to target the lucrative routes to China as well as the Asia Pacific region. Air Macau will transfer 22 routes to the venture and hold a 51 percent stake, said the newspaper, adding the budget airline will take over 11
Air MacauAir Macau Company Limited is an airline headquartered in Macau. It is the flag carrier of Macau, operating services to 12 destinations in mainland China, as well as regional international services...
routes to China and 11 cities in the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam.
Holdings
- Grand Lisboa
Grand Lisboa , owned by Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau and designed by Hong Kong architects Dennis Lau and Ng Chun Man, is a 58-floor tall skyscraper in Macau. The casino and restaurants within Grand Lisboa were opened on February 11, 2007, while the hotel is opened in December 2008. ...
- Hotel Lisboa
- Mandarin Oriental, Macau
- Hotel Sintra
Hotel Fortaleza do Guincho
- Pousada de Sao Tiago
- Macau Golf and Country Club.
- Grand Emperor Hotel
- Tiger Slots
- Canidrome
- Casa Real Hotel
- Hotel Golden Dragon
- President Hotel
- Hotel Fortuna
- Grandview
- Canada :* Grandview, Manitoba* Grandview, Thunder Bay, Ontario, a neighbourhood in Thunder Bay, Ontario* Grandview, Prince Edward Island, a small community in eastern Prince Edward Island- United States :*Grand View, Idaho*Grandview, Illinois...
- Greek Mythology Casino
- Macau International Airport
Macau International Airport situated at the eastern end of Taipa island and neighbouring waters, is the only airport in Macau, which opened for commercial operations in November 1995...
31% interest
- Seng Heng Bank Limited
- Jet Asia
Jet Asia is a private jet operator based in Macau and caters to North American businesses with ties in the region. The company is described as an air limousine service.Established in 1995, Jet Asia operates a wide range of small business jets:...
- New Yaohan Department Store
- numerous land holdings in Macao