The Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, SA; abbreviated as STDM, (,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
: "Tourism and Entertainment Company of Macau Limited") is a company in
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
owned by
Stanley Ho
Stanley Ho Hung-sun (; 25 November 192126 May 2020) was a Hong Kong-Macau billionaire businessman. His original patrilineal surname was Bosman, which was later sinicized to 何 (Ho). He was the founder and chairman of SJM Holdings, which owns ...
and his family. Historically, it held a monopoly to Macau's gambling industry as the only licensee for casinos. In 2002, the government of Macau began issuing more licenses and the monopoly was broken. Still, of the 41 operating casinos in Macau, 22 are owned by STDM, as of 2019. Macau is a location in James Bond film ''
The Man with the Golden Gun''.
History
The company was founded in 1962 by Stanley Ho and his then partners
Teddy Yip (Stanley Ho's brother-in-law through his sister,
Susie Ho
Susie is a female name that can be a diminutive form of Susan, Susanne, Suzanne, Susannah, Susanna or Susana.
Susie may refer to:
Songs
* "Susie Q" (song), a 1957 song by Dale Hawkins, covered by Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968)
*" Wak ...
),
Yip Hon
Yip Hon () (1904 – 7 May 1997) 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. He was nickn ...
and
Henry Fok
Henry Fok Ying Tung (10 May 1923 – 28 October 2006) was a Hong Kong businessman. He has ancestral roots in Lianxi Village, Panyu, now part of Guangzhou, Guangdong. Fok was the vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's ...
. In that year, it was granted a monopoly on
gambling in Macau
Gambling in Macau has been legal since the 1850s when the Portuguese government legalised the activity in the autonomous colony. Since then, Macau has become known worldwide as the "Gambling capital of the world" or "Monte Carlo of the East".
...
, which had previously been held by Tai Hing Company since 1934.
In 1982, Ho and Yip had a major public falling out, as a result of which Yip disposed of his interest for a rumored HK$400 million.
Cheng Yu-tung
Cheng Yu-tung GBM (; 8 August 1925 – 29 September 2016) was a Hong Kong billionaire with extensive property investment, development and service businesses, hotels, infrastructure, jewellery retailing and transportation interests in Hong Kong, ...
, founder of
New World Development
New World Development Company Limited (NWD), is a Hong Kong-based company focused on property developer in Hong Kong, property, hotels, infrastructure and services and department stores. It was established on 29 May 1970 by Cheng Yu-tung. The ...
, stepped in to fill the breach.
Fok's attempt to sell his stake in 1986, for a reported HK$600 million, was resisted by Ho. Complaining about the company's strategy and
dividend policy, Fok gifted the stake to the Henry Fok Ying Tung Foundation in 2002.
[
Since 2002, STDM was the subject of numerous lawsuits initiated either by Ho of by his sister, Winnie. Only after the final challenge was resolved in 2008 was it able to list its casinos subsidiary Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.][
In 2011, STDM shareholders are:
* Lanceford Company Limited: 31.6% (itself held 100% by Stanley Ho until the controversy of January 2011)
* Shun Tak Holdings: 11.5%
* Winnie Ho Yuen-ki: 7%
* Henry Fok Ying Tung Foundation: 27%]
* Cheng Yu-tung 10%[
* Others 12.9%][
]
Business activities
Gambling
Ho owns eight casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
s, including Casino Lisboa, 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 tourist
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...
s. Benefiting from the individual traveling policy between Hong Kong and Macau, the business of Casino Lisboa has increased rapidly, especially in the Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...
. 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 duty
A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; fro, deu, did, past participle of ''devoir''; la, debere, debitum, whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may ...
.
In the 1960s, Ho owned nine casinos in the Philippines; however, Ho abandoned his Philippine business ventures due to conflict with the president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
.
Apart from casinos, football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
, horse race
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
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 proposed to split Macau's gambling operation into three parts. The casinos in Macau were still under STDM, but those in Coloane
Coloane (Cantonese: Lou Wan) is a former island in Macau that is united with the island of Taipa by an area of reclaimed land known as Cotai. It is located at the southern part of Macau. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil pa ...
(路環) and Taipa
Taipa ( zh, t=氹仔, ; pt, Taipa, ) was a former island in Macau, presently united with the island of Coloane by reclaimed land known as Cotai. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil parish Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do Ca ...
(氹仔) were opened for bidding. At last, in 2002, other casino operators were able to obtain license
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
s for casinos in Coloane and Taipa. The arrival of the Sands Macau
Sands Macao () is a hotel and casino resort located in Sé, Macau, SAR - China. It is owned and operated by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, and was designed by Steelman Partners, LLP. It comprises a casino, and a 289-suite hotel.
Las Vega ...
and other planned destination resort
A resort hotel is a hotel which often contains full-sized luxury facilities with full-service accommodations and amenities. These hotels may attract both business conferences and vacationing tourists and offer more than a convenient place to stay ...
s, such as The Venetian Macao
The Venetian Macao () is a hotel and casino resort in Macau owned by the American Las Vegas Sands company. The 39-story structure on Macau's Cotai Strip has of floor space, and is modeled on its sister casino resort The Venetian Las Vegas. It ...
and the Wynn Macau
Wynn Macau () is a luxury hotel and casino resort in the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China with two towers containing a total of 1,008 rooms and suites, approximately of casino space, over of retail space, e ...
and those along the Cotai Strip
The Cotai Strip is a term coined by Las Vegas Sands Corporation in regard to its building of a strip of hotel-casinos in the Cotai section of Macau, a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China.
Cotai was the result of a m ...
, a Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of ...
-like development.
Aviation
A 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, and adding the budget airline will take over 11 Air Macau
Air Macau Company Limited (, Portuguese language, Portuguese: Companhia de Transportes Aéreos Air Macau, S.A.R.L.) is the flag carrier airline of Macau. It operates services to 24 destinations in Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Tai ...
routes to China and 11 cities in the Philippines, South Korea and Vietnam.
STDM also have a business aviation arm, called Jet Asia, providing private jet services.Bangkok's high fliers take to jet charters
''The Nation'' (Thailand), 12 August 2003
Holdings
The STDM holds numerous buildings in the peninsula of Macau, as well as the outlying islands and in Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. The more notable ones include:
Macau:
*Grand Lisboa
Grand Lisboa (, Portuguese: Grande Lisboa) is a 47-floor, hotel in Sé, Macau. It is owned by Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau and designed by Hong Kong architects Dennis Lau and Ng Chun Man with the interiors created by Khuan Chew, ...
* Hotel Lisboa
*Grand Lapa Macau
The Grand Lapa Macau is a luxury hotel on Avenida da Amizade in Sé, Macau, China located directly adjacent to the Sands Macao and near the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal.
The hotel opened in 1984 as the Excelsior and was later renamed the Orie ...
* Canidrome
* President Hotel
*Macau International Airport
Macau International Airport ( zh, 澳門國際機場; pt, Aeroporto Internacional de Macau) is an international airport in the special administrative region of Macau, situated at the eastern end of Taipa island and neighbouring waters whic ...
, 31% interest
* Macau Golf and Country Club
* Hotel Golden Dragon
* Greek Mythology Casino
* Pousada de Sao Tiago
* Hotel Fortuna
* Lisboa Palace
* Tiger Slots
* Grand Emperor Hotel
*Grandview (Taipa Island
Taipa ( zh, t=氹仔, ; pt, Taipa, ) was a former island in Macau, presently united with the island of Coloane by reclaimed land known as Cotai. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil parish Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do Ca ...
)
* Casa Real Hotel (Taipa Island)
*Jet Asia
*Westin Resort Macau
* New Yaohan Department Store
*Seng Heng Bank Limited Seng ( km, សេង, zh, 成) is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Seng Saekhu (born c. 1840s), Chinese emigrant to Thailand
*Pua Khein-Seng (born 1974), Malaysian businesspeople
*Ho Iat-seng (born 1957), Macanese politician
* ...
(now Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC; ) is a Chinese multinational bank.
Founded as a limited company on 1 January 1984, ICBC is a state-owned commercial bank. With capital provided by the Ministry of Finance of China, the ...
(Macau))
Portugal:
* Casino Lisboa
*Casino Estoril
The Estoril Casino ( pt, Casino do Estoril) is a casino in the Portuguese Riviera, in the municipality of Cascais, Portugal. Today, it is one of the biggest working casinos in Europe.
History
The first stone was laid on 16 January 1916 by then-P ...
*Casino da Póvoa 280px, Casino da Póvoa Francisco.almeida.23 on instagram.
Casino da Póvoa (English: Póvoa Casino) is a casino located in Póvoa de Varzim in Portugal. It is a gaming and entertainment venue since early 1930s, the building has a Garnier-inspire ...
* Hotel Sintra
* Hotel Fortaleza do Guincho
See also
* List of companies of Macau
Macau is an autonomous territory on the western side of the Pearl River Delta in East Asia. With a population of 650,900 living in an area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world.
Macau is among the world's richest regions, an ...
References
External links
Site
"Ho's empire stretches from gambling to graves"
''The Standard'', 1 February 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sociedade De Turismo E Diversoes De Macau
Gambling companies of Macau
Hospitality companies established in 1962
1962 establishments in Macau