Gaming insights Gaming

Ho Tram: Industry vet signals new era

Written by Andrew W Scott

This article first appeared in the Mar/Apr 2015 issue of WGM.

The Ho Tram development might have plenty going for it, but the past few years haven’t been easy. MGM’s decision to pull out of their management deal was one of a number of setbacks to plague the development and early operational days of The Grand Ho Tram Strip, with operating partner Pinnacle Entertainment reported to have written off US$110 million due to the delays and uncertainty surrounding the project. However, majority partner Asian Coast Development Ltd has acted quickly to right the wrongs and in October appointed veteran gaming executive Shaun McCamley to steady the ship at The Grand. The early signs have been promising with gaming figures in his first few months already setting new highs – although McCamley is aiming much, much higher. We spoke with the new President of The Grand Ho Tram Strip about his role and his hopes for gaming in Vietnam in the future.

Andrew W Scott: First of all Shaun, can you tell us a bit about your background in gaming – where it all began and your journey to this point?

Shaun McCamley: I started in the gaming industry as a croupier in one of London’s exclusive Mayfair Clubs in the late 1970s and have managed to work my way all the way from the floor to Vice President, CEO and President levels. I do think this grounding on the casino floor has given me a perspective quite rare in this field, having seen the industry at all levels over quite a long time now. That includes everything from operations to marketing to pre-opening to project development. Since the early ’80s I have been involved in casino resort development in Australia as part of the pre-opening team at the property that is now Crown Perth. From there I went on to Subic Bay in the Philippines, where I was the Group VP of Gaming Development responsible for the identification, development and establishment of new gaming opportunities in South-East Asia. I was the first recognized senior gaming executive to move into the newly developing field of internet gaming, where I worked with some well-known software developers providing risk management strategies and operational insights. In 2004 I formed EuroPacificAsia Management and Consulting Ltd – a firm that provides specialized management and consulting services to the gaming industry, both land based and digital.

AWS: How did you become involved with Ho Tram and what attracted you to this new role?

SM: I had been looking for an opportunity where I could use my extensive background knowledge and skills toward building and developing an organization. For me that’s where both the real challenges and the real opportunities lie. So when I was asked to submit my name for consideration to take on the role of President of The Grand Ho Tram Strip, and knowing some of the background of the Ho Tram project, for me it was just too good an opportunity not to accept. It’s such a beautiful property that has a definite “wow” factor. Why would anyone not feel privileged to lead it and the team who have worked so hard since its opening?

AWS: Can you tell us a bit about gaming in Vietnam and what benefits or challenges an operator faces there?

SM: It is a relatively new frontier for the gaming industry. We are in a part of the world where gaming demand remains underserviced and where we believe that the gaming market is looking for something a little different. Macau is hugely successful at what it does, but Singapore has shown us that a very different product can also succeed. Ho Tram is unlike anything in gaming this side of Nassau. We have a 2.2 kilometer beach flanked on all sides by protected forest, we have one of Asia’s great golf courses, we have a fantastic F&B offering, we have compelling programs for international tour operators – we really have everything going for us. As for the challenges, the standout remains an incorrect perception that we are “far” from any major city. When the new highway came online early in 2014, the journey to the Ho Tram Strip was cut to around two hours. Work continues on that road and its connectivity to the city and the speed limit was also just increased, so the travel time continues to get shorter. The nation also intends to build a new airport to service southern Vietnam in Long Thanh, and that is only around 45 minutes from our location. The other obvious challenge is the ban on locals entering prized gaming areas – there is a decree under development that is looking to review that as well, so progress is being made on our key challenges at present.

AWS: Of course, Ho Tram has faced some challenges simply to get up and running with MGM pulling out. What do you know of how that setback impacted upon Ho Tram and what can you tell us about those behind Ho Tram now?

SM: That was all well before my time. What I would say is that MGM put a superb team in place and that there were only two MGM staff who left with them. The vast majority of core employees stayed on at The Grand and management was taken on directly by the owner. I am sure there was a period of adjustment all had to go through in those days but much of the heavy lifting of that transition process has been done. However, I haven’t been hired to look backward, I am here to lead the property in the next phase of its development which focuses on continually growing the gaming side of the business. The leisure side has performed solidly from day one – indeed every weekend we are packed to the rafters. Our MICE offering performs well, F&B with new outlets and menu offerings is performing beyond expectations and golf is off to a flying start, so my focus is very strongly on the growth of gaming. I can proudly report that we have just come off a number of record months in a row for the gaming business. October set a record for volume, November rolled around and broke that record then December did the same. This has largely been on the VIP side, which is a good indication that we have the pieces in place there. What’s particularly pleasing to me is that our mass and premium mass markets are now growing and meeting budgeted expectations. We are working also on building out the mass gaming floor among travellers from around the region, from Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese) who visit regularly and especially around the Lunar New Year, to locally based expatriates in Ho Chi Minh City.

AWS: When people think gaming in Asia, Macau is obviously the first place that springs to mind. What can Ho Tram and Vietnam as a whole offer that you believe provides an attractive alternative?

SM: Our property is utterly unique in this beautiful part of the world. No one else has our beach, our climate, our cuisine, our service standards – it’s amazing how quickly skeptics become believers when they visit Ho Tram. We have had many industry leaders visit Ho Tram in the last couple of months and all, without exception, have been completely blown away with the quality of product we have at The Grand.

The Bluffs is a world class golf course

The Bluffs is a world class golf course

AWS: One of the great attractions at Ho Tram is the world class golf course, which was designed by Greg Norman. How important is the golf course to marketing Ho Tram to the world?

SM: The Bluffs golf course is a crucial piece of the Ho Tram Strip. We have something like 200,000 Koreans in Ho Chi Minh City alone – right there is huge potential for golf and gaming on our very doorstep. The reviews of our course are astounding us all – we already became the first course to ever be nominated in three categories at the Asia Pacific Golf Awards and that was before we were even formally open! We were also voted one of the Top 8 Best New Courses to Open in the world and voted into Asia’s Wow Golf Courses by golf.com.

AWS: Are there plans to further utilize the golf course in regards to hosting professional events in the future?

SM: Yes there are and some great news just to hand is we have finalized plans to host a major Asian Tour event here at The Bluffs in the fourth quarter of 2015. The event will see over 130 international touring PGA professionals from around the world competing for a share of the US$1.5 million prize purse, making it the richest sporting event in Vietnam sporting history. Our brand ambassador, European tour champion Robert Rock, will return to the Strip for the event with some of his colleagues from the tour making it one of the highest ranking fields on the Asian Tour for 2015. We will also be looking to run a premier baccarat championship leading up to and around the event, most likely called The Ho Tram Masters Baccarat Championship 2015.

AWS: The golf course aside, how big a focus is there on non-gaming at Ho Tram?

SM: It’s a big deal for us. We are in a nation of over 90 million who are not allowed to enter gaming areas at present. It would be foolish of us to ignore a market of that size right outside our doors. So we are roundly focused on bringing in world class entertainment, special events, parties, F&B, The Spa, MICE and so forth – mostly to service that market. By doing this not only do we raise our own profile, we also increase Vietnam’s visibility as a great tourist destination which for us is an important element in our overall planning.

AWS: I’ve noticed while walking around the property that almost every single staff member, from the most senior to the most junior, smiles warmly and is very quick to offer help. It’s a very refreshing change from Macau. Is this simply what the Vietnamese people are like or has a lot of work been done to create a strong service culture at Ho Tram?

SM: The Vietnamese people are naturally friendly which has made our service level training much easier than might be found in other locations. We place a very strong emphasis on service level training and this important training extends not only to our rank and file but also to our junior and senior management. The results, as you say, are clear to see.

AWS: What is the mix between VIP and mass gaming at Ho Tram and what is your focus in regards to these areas moving forward?

SM: Our table split errs on the side of VIP, and we have been very successful with our VIP offering so far. We have just come off three record months in a row, so that is a tremendous result for us and will continue to be a focus as we work with our international travel partners to drive this. The mass floor is an area we are looking to grow rapidly through outreach to local expatriate communities, resident and visiting Viet Kieu and international visitors. Newly created and revamped marketing initiatives aimed at this market segment will drive us forward. Should the gaming decree currently under development allow Vietnamese nationals to enter our gaming areas, we would of course expect that to be a significant boost for the mass gaming areas as well.

AWS: Given that Vietnamese locals aren’t able to play, what nationalities are playing in the casino? Is it mostly Vietnamese with passports from other countries or is it a real pan-Asian mix at the tables?

SM: We have a mix of foreign nationals from other regions with South-East Asians, Europeans and Viet Kieu.

AWS: There has been talk that the government is considering a pilot program to test the waters in regards to allowing Vietnamese nationals into local gaming areas. What’s the latest on these developments and do you envisage the current laws changing in the foreseeable future?

SM: There is very little we can say to pre-empt the authorities on that decision. We certainly believe it is in the interests of the nation to move in the direction of legalized local gaming for various reasons – notably the fact that gaming is currently done at largely unregulated casinos over the border in Cambodia anyway. This causes more social issues than it prevents, sees hard currency leave the nation and prevents the Vietnamese government from being able to collect tax from the establishments. The government has studied these issues very carefully and all indications are that they are moving toward allowing Vietnamese to enter prized gaming areas, perhaps with some kind of pre-qualifiers similar to Singapore. But ultimately there is not much we can definitively say about when and what the new decree will look like.

AWS: Finally Shaun, this is only the first phase of The Grand Ho Tram Strip. What can we expect from the next phase and from the property as a whole once completed?

SM: Original plans for The Grand had basically been two very similar hotel towers, however we recently announced a new direction there in response to some market demands locally and some successful projects further afield. This will see the next phase of The Grand feature condominiums in a tower beside the existing hotel, and villas located both on the beach and around The Bluffs golf course. There are discussions under way about increasing our non-gaming entertainment options on site. In addition to that, and looking further ahead, there will be a second integrated resort, similar in size and scale to The Grand. We’ve already got The Bluffs, which every golfer in Asia needs to come and play. As a golfer myself, I really can’t speak highly enough about our course, it’s incredible. And then there will be three additional resorts on a stunning beach loaded with watersports and cultural entertainment. We really are on the cusp of some very exciting things at The Ho Tram Strip.