Las Vegas Sands—controlled by the family of the late casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson—is investing a further $750 million to revamp Marina Bay Sands as room rates in Singapore surge to record levels amid a post-pandemic travel boom.
The latest investment brings the total cost of refurbishing the iconic integrated casino, hotel and convention center to $1.75 billion. Under phase 1, Marina Bay Sands renovated 1,280 hotel rooms across towers 1 and 2, including 390 new suites. Under phase 2, about 550 rooms in tower 3 will be redesigned, of which 380 will be suites
“Marina Bay Sands has made significant progress in delivering new world-leading luxury travel experiences over the past two years,” Paul Town, chief operating officer of MBS, said in a statement. “This second phase of reinvestment will be critical as it propels the property to new heights and places us in a strong position to capture future growth opportunities.”
Las Vegas Sands is stepping up investments in Singapore—where it is separately spending an additional $3 billion in the next few years to add a new luxury hotel tower with 1,000 hotel rooms at MBS, expand the convention center and the shopping mall—to tap into the travel boom in the Lion City. Net revenue for Marina Bay Sands climbed 34.3% to $1 billion in the third quarter of 2023 as travel and tourism spending in Singapore continued to recover.
Its rival Genting Singapore—controlled by Malaysian billionaire Lim Kok Thay—is also accelerating investment plans. In November, the company said it will spend an additional S$2.3 billion ($1.7 billion) to revamp its Resorts World Sentosa, bringing the total renovation budget for the casino resort and theme park to S$6.8 billion.